The Associated Press
Grand Junction, Colo. (AP) -- Gero was a woman’s best friend, and a hero.
The 5-year-old German shepherd police dog was the first police dog to be shot in the line of duty. He took a bullet meant for policewoman Geraldine Earthman or fellow officer Eric Janusz.
The two police officers were responding to a call for help at an apartment building when John Martin Martinez came out a window firing at them. The dog darted in front of the officers who had no cover.
“He saw the threat and went towards it. He went directly in front of us and saved our lives,” Janusz said.
Martinez, meanwhile, was shot in the arm during the May 6 incident, and went back inside the building and fatally wounded himself.
On Saturday, Gero was remembered at a full-dress funeral that reduced officers to tears. Officers came from all over the state, wearing black ribbons. Earthman, his handler, cradled his ashes briefly.
Fire trucks crossed their ladders and hung an American flag in front of the Canyon View Vineyard Church.
The dog was remembered as a critter who loved to bite. “I’m going to miss being afraid of him,” said officer Lincoln Folkers.