K9 Waro – Clayton, Georgia

Died 9/2/23
Handler – Sergeant James Williams

Clayton County Police Department had requested a K-9 unit to find Ford.Clayton on Sept. 2 at about 1:46 a.m. Waro alerted officers on the suspect in the wood line and officers subsequently issued verbal commands for the suspect to surrender. County Police K-9 Waro was deployed into the nearby wood line where he engaged the suspect. The suspect produced a handgun and began firing in the direction of officers. Waro was struck and subsequently rushed to a local area animal hospital for treatment, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Police spent the next several hours searching for Ford and they found him about eight hours later in Jonesboro, police said.Police said Ford was given several commands to put his gun down but he pointed his weapon at officers, who then fatally shot Ford.

Submitted By Jim Cortina

James A. Cortina has been involved with police dogs since 1972 and currently on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Jim has been appointed as Treasurer since its inception in 1991. Jim is one of the charter members of the C.P.W.D.A. organization. Since 1975 he has been a certified professional dog trainer and received his Master Trainer Certification in 1985. During his career he has provided armed K-9 strike crowd control for security agencies in Connecticut and out of state security companies. In conjunction with other members of the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Board of Directors, he helped to draft Connecticut Statute 53-247(e) "Intentional Injury or Killing of Police K-9" which was passed by the Senate in 1993 and also assisted in implementing the prestigious Daniel Wasson Memorial K-9 Award in 1992. In 1993 he helped coordinate the North American Police Work Dog Association Nationals in New London, Connecticut. He was appointed Training Director for the New London County Work Dog Association from 1985-1987. He performed decoy work for Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. in police K-9 demonstrations, trained several local police department canines, and coordinated training workshops for out-of-state police departments. He participated in the United States Police K-9 Association Trials in Croton on Hudson, New York in 1985 as a decoy. He is an avid photographer and received photography awards in 1989, 1990, and 1991 and currently takes photographs for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc.