SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – It was a hectic scene in Linda Vista early Wednesday morning involving San Diego Police and a man suspected in a shooting.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said the armed suspect bailed from his white Tesla on foot on Mesa College.
Investigators added SDPD officers told the man to drop the gun, but he didn’t comply and a SDPD K-9 dog was released.
“The suspect produced his gun, fired one shot which prompted one San Diego PD officer to discharge his weapon. The K-9 was shot during the process by the suspect,” Lt. Joseph Jarjura of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said.
RELATED: Man who shot K-9 to death killed by police during standoff at Mesa College
Deputies said the suspect later died at the hospital, and the SDPD K-9 -- a four-and-a-half-year-old Belgian Malinois named Sir -- also died.
“I guarantee that handler is just completely devastated right now. My heart goes out to him as every handler or anybody with kind of canine experience,” said Pete Stevens, a board member of the California Narcotic Canine Association.
Stevens is former law enforcement with 20 years of handling and training canines. He said the bond between K-9 dogs and their handlers is incredibly tight being together all day every day.
“You actually spending more time with that dog than you do with your family, your loved one, anybody because that is your job,” Stevens said.
A job that is tough.
“We get some very special dogs. These dogs are not pets. We love them like pets, but they are not. They are a tool for law enforcement to use for locating evidence or being a use of force option,” Steven said.
Stevens said this situation is one felt throughout the whole canine community.
“That is something that we as handlers we dread. We know that we are sending our dogs into a situation that is dangerous. But they’re there to protect human life,” Steven said.
