Died – 7\/6\/17
\nHandler – Sgt. Chad Reyes<\/p>\n
Police K-9 shot and killed during fugitive arrest<\/p>\n
The successful apprehension of a wanted fugitive was tempered by tragedy late Wednesday when the suspect shot and killed a police dog that was doing exactly what it was trained to do. Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said the incident began around 11:30 p.m. when members of VFAS (Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section), composed of U.S. Marshals and other agencies, including the Unified Police Department, was looking for a parole fugitive who was known to be armed and dangerous. Winder said officials had been trying to find the man, Torey Massey, for several weeks. \u201cIntelligence was developed that he was in the general area,\u201d Winder told Gephardt Daily, \u201cand he was spotted by members of the fugitive task force.\u201d A traffic stop was initiated, but the wanted man fled and, although his tires were spiked, he managed to drive to a parking lot, where he then left the vehicle. As the man attempted to flee on foot, Winder said, \u201cOne of the K-9 units, which had been pre-positioned \u2026 deployed their canine in what is known as a kennel deployment, out of the (police) vehicle.\u201dWinder said the dog pursued the suspect, \u201cand it appears that when the dog attached to the individual, this individual pulled a firearm and shot our canine multiple times.\u201d The dog was rushed to a local veterinary office, where he was pronounced dead. Winder said the suspect was subsequently taken into custody by other members of the task force. Massey had only dog bite injuries. \u201cWe\u2019ll be treating this as an officer-involved situation,\u201d Winder said, \u201calthough it\u2019s critical to understand that no firearms were discharged by law enforcement. But we do have a canine fatality.\u201d At this point, the sheriff\u2019s voice, steady and stoic, took on a deeper, more personal tone.\u201cThis particular dog, like all our canine officers, is beloved. This dog has been with his handler for many years, through many, many tragedies. The dog is a cancer survivor, and needless to say, our unit and our entire department is suffering mightily.\u201d Winder said it\u2019s important to be careful about equating lives, but \u201cthe bottom line is we have a heroic act here by a member of our service, and we will honor it as such.\u201d Winder concluded by saying, \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable. Agencies will go a long time without these issues. This is just a tragedy.\u201d The firearm has been recovered along with a knife, and the area was cordoned off for the investigation. Winder said that, because of the nature of the situation and the death of the dog, an outside agency \u2014 in this case, Salt Lake City \u2014 will handle the follow-up investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 7\/6\/17 Handler – Sgt. Chad Reyes Police K-9 shot and killed during fugitive arrest The successful apprehension of a wanted fugitive was tempered by tragedy late Wednesday when the suspect shot and killed a police dog that was doing exactly what it was trained to do. Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-3631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-ut"],"yoast_head":"\n