NCJ Number
190823
Journal
Community Links Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 12-15
Date Published
June 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This is the first-person story of a K-9 officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was shot, along with his partner (his partner died), by a robbery suspect in an alley at night.
Abstract
The officer's account describes the events leading up to the encounter with the suspect in the alley, before providing the details of the events in the alley that led to his wounding and his partner's death. The two officers, accompanied by their dogs, entered the alley in a search for the suspect. Unfortunately, a street light at the entrance to the alley backlighted the officers, making them perfect targets for the suspect, who was lying prone in the darkness of the alley with a shotgun ready to fire. Both officers went down under the shotgun fire, but both officers were able to fire their weapons toward the location of the shotgun flash after they had been wounded. One of the dogs also moved toward the location of the shotgun blast. Other police officers appeared on the scene and fired on the suspect. The suspect was found dead, riddled with gunshots and with dog bites on his chest and legs. The wounded officer (the author) survived his wounds, but 5 years later he still has persistent pain from 205 lead pellets that remain lodged in his right leg. A few have worked their way out over time, but doctors have advised against surgical removal of the pellets because of the danger surgery would pose to his leg. After the shooting, he learned that the dead suspect's father was a retired Montana K-9 police officer who had been forced to retire due to a gunshot wound.