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Died 9/10/20
K9 and suspect killed in officer-involved shooting
A man and a police K-9 were both killed Thursday afternoon after a shootout between the man and officers, Gwinnett County police said. Gwinnett police Cpl. Collin Flynn said officers were investigating gang activity in the 1000 block of Willow Trail Parkway when they found a stolen vehicle with two people inside. An officer tried to speak with the occupants, but both ran in different directions, away from officers, Flynn said. The SWAT Unit, including K-9 Blue, began searching the area for the man who fled into nearby woods, Flynn said. The dog helped officers track the man into the woods, where the man fired at the officers, according to police. Officers returned gunshots, and both the man and the K-9 were shot and later died from their injuries, police said. It was not known late Friday whether the man or the officers struck the dog. The man’s name was not released. Investigators believe the second person in the vehicle was a woman. She had not been located Thursday evening. The GBI has been requested to investigate. It’s the 69th officer-involved shooting the agency has been asked to investigate this year. The K-9 was the first full-time dog dedicated to Gwinnett County’s SWAT team, Gwinnett police said. “He was 5 years old and bravely served the citizens of Gwinnett County in the police department for over a year,” Flynn said in an emailed statement. It was also the 11th police dog killed in the line of the duty in 2020 in the U.S. and the second in Georgia, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. In January, a Henry County police dog, K9 Thorr, was killed in a car crash.
