FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – A Fresno County Sheriff’s K-9 Deputy was shot on Tuesday as officers attempted to apprehend suspected car thieves. The suspects holed themselves up in a central Fresno apartment for the majority of the day. The apartment complex was evacuated, after the Sheriff’s S.W.A.T. team learned the men may be armed. Eventually, after tear gas was deployed, the wanted suspects came out.
Once detained, deputies attempted to clear the complex. When entering a different apartment, two pit bulls attacked a Sheriff’s K-9, Mikey. Deputies shot at the pit bulls, killing one of them. Mikey was hit in the paw by a bullet as well.
(Photo: Mikey, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office)
“These suspects are the ones responsible for these dogs being shot today,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Botti. “If they had just given up from the beginning, it would have never gone to this level to be breaching doors and going in with S.W.A.T. team.”
Botti says Mikey is expected to survive, but his injuries may mean his career as a K-9 deputy is over.
(Photo: Mikey, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office)
