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Died – 12/24/18
Deputy-involved shooting near mall in Florida, police dog shot and killed
Deputies have confirmed two suspect are in custody after a deputy-involved shooting that left a police dog dead outside The Mall at Wellington Green. The incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Monday in the parking lot by the mall’s food court, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. Deputies has been searching for two men involved in an attempted murder at Palm Beach County bar, said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. Deputies found two of the men at mall, where they met up with a third person, Bradshaw said.After watching the trio on mall surveillance footage, deputies made the decision to wait until they returned outside to their vehicle in order to apprehend them without putting others at risk. That’s when the shooting started, Bradshaw said. One suspect took off running and a K-9 dog pursued him. The person shot the dog and then shot at deputies, who returned fire and hit him several times. The suspect was taken into custody and is now at a local hospital. Another suspect is in custody, while a third person who was with them is being questioned by deputies. Bradshaw said the gun used in the mall shooting was a .45-caliber automatic, the same type weapon that had been used in the shooting at the bar several weeks ago. He also said one of the suspects was a “known Latin Kings gang member.” Deputies say the K9 dog who was shot died while in surgery at a local veterinarian emergency center. Bradshaw said he did not know the dog’s name, but in PBSO Tweet later, the dog was identified as K9 Cigo, who was 3 years old.Bradshaw said while the death of the K-9 is sad, “remember, the dog did his job and he saved those officer’s lives.”
