Zeke, the K-9 officer, was taken to a local veterinary hospital and treated for his injuries. He received several stitches, but was expected to be released Tuesday evening, Dec. 15.
State Police Lt. David Kaiser said troopers had stopped a vehicle on the city's north side on Tuesday, Dec. 15, when they saw the passenger in the vehicle had a handgun. Kaiser said the man fled from the vehicle and troopers chased him on foot.
"As the troopers were chasing the suspect, they lost sight of him, however they did recover a handgun," Kaiser said. "The handgun is described as a .45-caliber and was stolen out of the city of Flint earlier this year."
The troopers set up a perimeter in the neighborhood off of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Troopers called in the department's K-9 that was tracking in the area of Newall Street.
"As our K-9 was tracking the suspect through these vacant homes, the dog lunged at the K-9 – it was on a chain, it was a pit bull. He broke the chain and attacked our K-9," Kaiser said. "In order to prevent that attack from escalating further and our dog being injured, one of our troopers discharged his handgun, striking the pit bull, also grazing the front-left shoulder of our departmental K-9."
Kaiser said the pit bull was killed. He said the owners of the dog did not immediately answer the door, so the animal will be transported to Michigan State University in Lansing where it will be examined for rabies.
Under official state police orders, Kaiser said troopers are allowed to discharge their weapons to protect officers and their K-9s. He said there is a full investigation into the incident.
"Because a trooper did fire his weapon, we've got detectives out here that are going to do a complete investigation just as if that dog were a person." Kaiser said. "So it will be a complete investigation."
Kaiser said the suspect from the traffic stop was taken into custody a short time later. He was found to be a felon on parole.
(MLive - Dec 15, 2015)
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