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Handler – Master Cpl. Chris Sarnecky
Retired New Castle County Police K-9 Diablo, shot in 2009, dies
A retired New Castle County police K-9 that was shot while trying to apprehend a suspect in 2009 has died, the department said Tuesday. K-9 Diablo was forced into retirement following the Nov. 11, 2009, shooting, which unfolded outside a Philadelphia Pike apartment complex in Brandywine Hundred around 1 a.m. Diablo and his handler, Master Cpl. Chris Sarnecky, had responded to the area after a woman called 911 to report that her boyfriend, Eric Weit, threatened to kill her. Officers surrounded the complex, but couldn’t find Weit — until Diablo caught his scent in a nearby wooded area. Diablo “dashed through a thicket, where he found and bit” Weit as the man tried to run, according to a Delaware Online/The News Journal article from 2009. Weit, who had a handgun, yelled, “I’ll shoot. I’ll kill this (expletive) dog and all of you, too” at officers before they opened fire on him, a Delaware Department of Justice report said. The 34-year-old was shot five times before yelling, “I’m down and I’m done.” He survived the shooting. Though Diablo had been shot twice during the incident, he didn’t let go of Weit until Sarnecky called him back. The K-9 then collapsed at his handler’s feet. Sarnecky rushed Diablo to a local veterinary hospital. He was then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary hospital, where he underwent surgery. The K-9 made a full recovery, but never went back to work. He lived out his days with Sarnecky. New Castle County police said Tuesday that Diablo was “faithful until death.”
