TULARE (KMJ) – A Tulare Police K9 and a suspect are both dead, after a traffic stop overnight ended with an officer involved shooting.
The incident began around 7:00pm on Sunday, Dec. 9 by Cherry and Pleasant Streets.
Officers were following a driver who led them on a chase from within the City of Tulare into Tulare County, the vehicle came to a stop by Tulare Avenue and Palm Street.
Interim Tulare Police Chief, Captain Matt Machado says it’s unknown what prompted the attempted stop – whether it was a vehicle malfunction or not.
Four officers were there on scene along with Police K9 Bane.
“The officer deployed Bane, as he did shots were fired by the suspect from inside the vehicle,” said Interim Police Chief, Captain Matt Machado. “Bane and his handler were both struck by rounds. The additional officers on scene returned fire.”
One officer was struck in the arm and in the torso, with his ballistic vest offering lifesaving protection. K9 Bane, who accompanied the officer, was struck and died at the scene.
There were three people in the suspect vehicle. All were transported to local hospitals. A 35 year-old man died at the hospital, a 28-year old woman was listed in critical condition, and 25-year-old Cameron Ware of Visalia, was not injured but taken for observation. Ware is now facing four counts of attempted homicide, and a charge for killing the Tulare Police officer’s K-9 partner.
Bane was a year and half old Belgium Malinois, trained as a bomb detection dog. He and his former handler were set to attend their bomb training in the future. Bane’s officer handler is a 6-year veteran, and had completed at 5-week intensive training where the two had bonded. “It was an intense bond and I believe the two had all the potential in the world to do great things,” said Interim Tulare Police Chief, Captain Matt Machado.
The police officers have been placed on paid leave. The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office is managing the investigation.
“We do plan on having some type of memorial service for Bane in the near future, said Interim Police Chief Machado, “but we will wait for our officer to recover from his injuries so he can be part of honoring his partner.”
Click to hear the report from KMJ’s Liz Kern:
