K9 Koki – El Mirage, Arizona

Died – 5/8/20
Handler – Officer Doug Jones

Arizona police K-9 shot dead while chasing suspect

A K-9 with an Arizona police division was fatally shot by a suspect within the line of obligation Friday night time, the division mentioned. The canine, named Koki, with the El Mirage Police Division was chasing 38-year-old Joe Ruelas about 5:20 p.m. when the suspect opened fire. “Tonight we had a really severe scenario in our metropolis by which our K9 Koki was killed defending his fellow officers,” Chief Paul Marzocca mentioned in an announcement posted to Fb after the taking pictures. After Ruelas struck Koki, two officers returned fire on the suspect, who fled the scene, the report mentioned. However quickly after, police found Ruelas dead from an obvious self-inflicted gunshot wound. Ruelas was being searched for aggravated assault when he initially fled from cops. The division on Saturday posted an emotional video tribute to Koki on Fb, displaying varied images of the K-9 together with his handler out locally. “Thanks on your service K-9 Officer Koki. You’re a true hero,” the video was captioned. The posts had been met with an outpouring of help. “I’m so sorry to listen to of your loss,” one girl commented. “My coronary heart goes out to all of the officers, however particularly to Koki’s handler.” One other person mentioned: “God bless you K9 Koki and your fellow officers. THANK YOU for serving and defending El Mirage and the encircling communities. I’m so extremely sorry on your loss.”

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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.
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