K9 Midnight – Gilchrist County, Florida

Died 8/7/20
Handler – Lt. Alex Gaston

It is with a heavy heart, that we announce the passing of retired GCSO K-9 “Midnight”. K-9 “Midnight” passed quietly in his sleep at the residence of his long time partner Lt. Alex Gaston and his son Toby Gaston. K-9 “Midnight” was 14 years of age. Midnight started his career at the Gilchrist County Sheriffs Office in 2012 and partnered with Lt. Alex Gaston till the time of K-9 “Midnights” retirement in 2019. K-9 “Midnight” was a registered German Shepherd and had direct breeding lines to Czechoslovakia. K-9 “Midnight” was one of, if not the first K-9 trained to be a full patrol dog for the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office. He was trained and proficient in tracking, narcotics detection and fugitive apprehension. K-9 “Midnight” also provided multiple demonstrations at the local schools and other civic events throughout his career. One of K-9 “Midnights” signature command and audience favorites was to play dead when his partner pointed his finger at him and said “Bang”. Upon hearing the news of K-9 “Midnights” passing, Sheriff Bobby Schultz gave the following statement: “K-9 “Midnight” was instrumental in our on going mission to rid our county of dangerous narcotics. K-9 “Midnight” assisted in numerous arrests and asset forfeitures in our county and struck fear in all those individuals who tried to pedal their poison in our communities. The men and women of the Gilchrist County Sheriffs Office and the citizens of our great county owe a great deal of gratitude to K-9 “Midnight” for his service and our condolences go out to Lt. Gaston and his family as they mourn the loss of this great K-9 hero.”

Tags

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.
| Old Memorials | Site Map
Copyright © 1973 - 2024 Louise Krause Memorials to Fallen K-9's Hosted By PC-GEEK Site Maintained BY Jim Cortina