By Gregg Montgomery
Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A residential burglary suspect this morning shot and killed Bo, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department canine.
Canine Officer Scott Johnson also shot and wounded the suspect. Johnson had released Bo following a car chase with the burglary suspect found in a Franklin Township home, said Sgt. Paul Thompson, a department spokesman.
Police this afternoon identified the suspect as Clinton Hernandez, 21. He was reported in stable condition at Wishard Hospital with two gunshot wounds to a leg and hip.
The incident began with a 9:23 a.m. call from a resident, who saw an unfamiliar vehicle and items sitting next to it in the driveway of a home in the 6300 block of Moonstruck Parkway. Officers watched the red sport utility vehicle leave and began a pursuit.
Officer Johnson radioed to emergency dispatchers that the suspect fled a vehicle and displayed a handgun. As the chase began on foot, Johnson released Bo, and the canine began to go after the suspect. Then, the suspect shot the dog with a 9-mm handgun, Thompson said.
The dog died after being shot at the end of a driveway in the 2500 block of Andrews Court, Thompson said.
Condolences for Bo can be sent to the IMPD Canine Association, P.O. Box 55522, Indianapolis, IN 46205
Marion County police have had “K-9" units since 1960. Bo is not the first police dog to be killed in the line of duty in the city.
Arco, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois of the Marion County Sheriff’'s Department, was shot and killed July 11, 2005, by a crime suspect in the 3600 block of Carson Avenue.
Copyright 2007 The Indianapolis Star