Long Beach Police Kill Suspect Who Fatally Shot Police Dog
Published: October 4, 2005
A paroled armed robber who shot and killed a police dog died in a hail of police gunfire in Long Beach this morning.
The suspect, identified only as a known street gang member with a long criminal history, had fired a gun at officers during a foot pursuit before the final confrontation, Long Beach police said today.
“The shooting appears to be justified, but that will be determined through multiple investigations,” said police spokesman Sgt. David Cannan.
The 4-year old dog had been on the force for two years.
“Ranger was doing exactly what he was trained for,” Cannan said. “As close as we get to these dogs, they have a primary mission: we put them in a threat area so we don’t have to expose an officer.”
A police gang unit tried to contact the parolee late Sunday night — a routine activity, Cannan said.
“This supposed to be a benign, low key contact” Cannan said.
The man ran out a back door, and officers pursued. He turned at one point and fired at the pursuers, who returned fire. No one was hit in the exchange. He was found hiding under the porch of a home in the 1300 block of Cedar.
“They order him to surrender and he does not respond,” Cannan said. “He’s told that if he does not surrender, a police dog will be sent in and he will be bit. He does not respond. We deploy the dog. He shoots the dog. As soon as he fires, the officers on scene responded in kind and fired on him,” Cannan said.
“They fired in response to being fired upon, knowing he had already fired at officers.”
The exchange happened so quickly that police could not notify the residents of the home. The suspect died at the scene.
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