 Memorials
to Fallen K-9s
2005-R The F.A.S.T. Co. donates sets of memorial cards to all partners I need your help to inform me of such losses. |
Dept. addresses available for those who want to send condolences to officers. See below
|
K-9 ROCKY November 22, 2005  Partner: Deputy Raja Karim Mohave County Sheriff's Dept. P.O. Box 1191 600 West Beale St. Kingman, AZ 86402 800-522-4312
Raja Karim
has been
employed with
the Mohave
County Sheriff's
since 2002.
Deputy Karim and
K9 partner
"Rocky" are
assigned to the
In Loving Memory
of Since joining the Atlanta police force, Rusty the police dog had one partner -- his handler, Senior Police Officer Derrick Davis. Rusty has lost his fight with cancer, leaving Davis and a grateful police department to mourn his loss. "He was pretty much a massive dog, but he was gentle. He was a beautiful dog. He just had a sense about him that commanded attention," said Davis. During Rusty's seven-year tenure, he responded to more than 900 police calls and participated in more than 100 "Say No to Drugs" presentations at schools around Metro Atlanta. "He loved kids, and I can remember all the kids surrounding him, and can see his tail wagging back and forth, and to see all the kids just petting and loving on him," Davis said. Rusty even competed as a law enforcement Olympian in the World Police and Fire Games held in Indianapolis in 2001. Davis says now that Rusty has passed, he'll always be remembered as a champion. "He worked up until it was time for him to pass on. He never did waver away. He never said 'Daddy, I'm tired, I'm ready to stop working,'" said Davis.
In Loving Memory
of
Late-night
gunfire
claims life
of parolee,
K9
By Karen
Robes and
Kristopher
Hanson,
Staff
writers
LA County
Coroner
officials
remove the
body of
Agustin
Murguia, who
was shot and
killed by
police after
an officer
involved
shooting at
the 1300
block of
Cedar Ave.
in Long
Beach.
During the
shooting a
LBPD K9 Dog
named
"Ranger" was
shot and
killed.
(Stephen Carr / Press-Telegram) LONG BEACH — A parolee who ran from police and then hid under a porch began a shootout with officers that ended in his death, and that of a police dog early Monday, authorities said. Agustin Murguia, 22, of Long Beach shot at police, who returned fire at about 2:50 a.m. in the 1300 block of Cedar Avenue, officials said. The dozens of bullets fired during the shootout rattled the neighborhood where the alleged gang member was hiding. "We heard police helicopters and sirens, then all of a sudden our house got hit with lots of bullets," said a 16-year-old resident of the house whose porch Murguia was hiding under. "The bullets went through our windows and tore up a sofa and some candles. We hid until (police) pulled us out a window a few minutes later," she said, on condition she not be identified. The 3-hour incident began at about 11:15 p.m. Sunday when Gang Enforcement officers attempted to make contact with Murguia at his home in the 1200 block of Loma Vista Avenue, said Officer Israel Ramirez. Murguia, who lived with an older brother and his mother, Ignacio Murguia, ran into the house after he saw police, and when officers followed him inside, he bolted out the back door, said Sgt. David Cannan. Three gang officers chased Murguia, who headed northbound on Cedar, crossed Anaheim Street and ran down an alley. Murguia then allegedly turned around and shot at officers, who returned fire. No one was hurt in the exchange. When Murguia headed eastbound, police quickly set up a perimeter along Magnolia and Cedar avenues and Anaheim and 14th streets and called in the department's SWAT Team and K-9 unit, who began searching for Murguia around 12:30 a.m. At 2:50 a.m., SWAT officers carrying light-mounted guns found him hiding beneath the porch of a house on Cedar Avenue. Officers asked him numerous times to surrender, but he refused. Officers then sent a police dog, a 4-year-old Malinois named Ranger, after Murguia. Moments later, police said Murguia shot at officers, who fired back, Cannan said. Cannan did not know how many officers fired and how many rounds were used. He said there were about seven SWAT officers but he did not know if all of them fired. The officers were about 20 to 25 feet away from the suspect, Cannan said. During the shootout, Murguia and the dog, Ranger, were hit. Cannan did not know whether Ranger was shot by the suspect or by police. Asked if other options to subdue the suspect were considered, Cannan said police were forced to respond accordingly. "In this scenario, deadly force was answered with deadly force," Cannan said. Heroic Police Dog Laid To Rest -Oct. 12, 2005. MORE: (CBS) LOS ANGELES A well-loved Long Beach Police dog was remembered this week by his human partner, who gives the canine credit for saving his and his fellow officers’ lives after a shootout.Three-year-old Ranger was the first canine officer to be shot to death in the city of Long Beach and will be buried Wednesday night at the Long Beach Police Department’s Academy, next to three other Long Beach Police dogs, KCAL 9’s Michele Gile reported.On Oct. 3, Mike Parcells, Ranger’s handler, and other officers were trying to flush out a parolee hiding under a porch. The suspect apparently shot as he saw Ranger pass in the light. “I know that one of us would have gotten shot that night,” Parcells said, choking back tears. “I don’t think he saw the dog. I can almost guarantee he didn’t see the dog.” A news camera recorded Parcells cradling the mortally wounded Ranger as he arrived at an animal hospital. Ranger died three hours later. 
 Photos of K-9 Ranger's memorial service - compliments of Roger Niccoli with thanks.
Ranger
was
rushed
to a
Tustin
emergency
animal
care
center,
where he
died in
surgery
around
7:30
a.m. Murguia
was on
parole
for
assault
with a
deadly
weapon
and
making
criminal
threats,
Ramirez
said.
Monday
evening,
more
than 100
friends
and
family
members
gathered
at the
shooting
scene
for a
memorial
service
overseen
by
Father
Angel
Velandia
of St.
Jude's
Catholic
Church
in
Huntington
Beach.
"I don't
know why
they had
to shoot
him when
he was
stuck
under
the
house
like
that,"
said
friend
Jose
Alvarez.
"They
keep
talking
about
the dog,
but what
about
him. He
was a
human
being.
They
keep
switching
the
story
around
and we
don't
even
know if
he
really
did kill
the
dog."
One of
Agustin's
three
sisters,
Monica,
said her
brother
had been
suffering
from
leukemia
for the
past
year.
She
didn't
know
what
prompted
him to
run from
police.
"It just
seems
like
overkill,"
said
another
sister,
who
spoke on
condition
she not
be
identified.
"They
should
have
used
tear gas
or
waited
it
out."
Earlier
Monday,
as
neighbors
and
bystanders
watched
police
pick up
the
bullets
and
shell
casings
littering
the
street,
they
expressed
anger
over
Murguia's
death
and the
medical
attention
paid to
the
dog.
"They
should
have
took the
man to
the
hospital,
not the
dog,"
said
Ever De
Los
Reyes, a
neighbor.
But
Murguia
was
already
dead at
the
scene,
Ramirez
said.
Lisa
Sedilo,
who knew
Murguia
for
eight
years,
said she
is
trying
to raise
funds to
help
offset
funeral
expenses.
She said
Murguia
was a
lifelong
resident
who grew
up in
the
neighborhood.
"He made
wrong
decisions
in life,
but he
wasn't a
bad
kid."
Ranger
is the
first
K-9 to
be
killed
in the
line of
duty
since
2001,
when
Rocco, a
2-year-old
patrol
dog,
broke
his back
while
investigating
a
possible
break-in
at the
Museum
of Latin
American
Art.
Since
the
department
initiated
its K-9
Division
in the
late
1970s,
at least
three
dogs
have
been
killed
in the
line of
duty,
including
Ranger.
Like all
Long
Beach
police
K-9s,
Ranger
will be
laid to
rest at
the
department's
K-9
cemetery,
a tiny
sliver
of land
located
next to
the
Police
Academy
in East
Long Beach.
For
Ranger's
partner,
11-year
veteran
Officer
Michael
Parcells,
the
canine's
death
Monday
is
especially
hard.
Barry,
Parcells'
former
four-legged
partner,
who
retired
last
year,
died in
May.
**********************************************
Parcells,
who
grew
up
in
Cypress,
is a
decorated
officer
who
has
received
various
awards
and
has
been
working
with
canines
for
several
years.
In
1995,
he
was
credited
with
helping
save
several
people
trapped
in a
burning
apartment
in
Long
Beach.
Police
ask
that
donations
in
Ranger's
name
be
sent
to
the
Long
Beach
K-9
Officers
Association,
P.O.
Box
17366,
Long
Beach
90807.
****************************On Sunday, October 2, 2005 at approximately 11:15 p.m., officers from the Long Beach Police Department’s Gang Enforcement Section were conducting a residence search in the 1200 block of Loma Vista Avenue, of a known parolee. While searching the residence the suspect ran out the rear of the residence and officers pursued him on foot. During the pursuit the suspect ran into an alley in the 1300 block of Cedar Avenue, were he turned on the officers and using a handgun, shot at the officers. A perimeter was immediately established and Long Beach Police SWAT members conducted a systematic search of the area. At about 2:50 a.m., the suspect was found hiding under a porch at a residence in the 1300 block of Cedar Avenue. The suspect was ordered numerous times to surrender before a Police K-9 was sent in after him. The suspect fired at SWAT members who, fearing for their safety engaged the suspect in gunfire. The suspect who was pronounced dead at the scene was a Long Beach resident, identified as a male Hispanic in his 20’s who is a known gang member and was on active parole for assault with deadly weapon at the time of this incident. Police K-9 “Ranger” was struck once by gunfire and was transported to an emergency animal care facility in the city of Tustin. Unfortunately, Ranger, a 4 year-old Malinois succumbed to his injuries during surgery from a gunshot wound to the chest. Ranger, who was born in Holland, had been with the Police Department for two years. Anyone who has information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Long Beach Police Department’s Homicide Detail at (562) 570-7244. UPDATE LBPD prepares for a new addition to their K-9 unit, Knight. By Kristopher Hanson, Staff writer - -11/14/05 LONG BEACH — Sleek, powerful and capable of sending a 250-pound hardened criminal to his knees in fear, this crime-fighting canine is eager to hit the streets of Long Beach. but like all bright-eyed police rookies, Knight has valuable lessons to learn before entering the modern world of urban law enforcement, where desperate criminals aren't hesitant to shoot at cops, as was tragically evident with this pup's predecessor, a scent-sniffing pro named Ranger. Five weeks after Long Beach K-9 Officer Mike Parcells watched Ranger be fatally wounded in a police shootout with an armed suspect, the veteran officer is bonding with his new dog, Knight, a German-born, 70-pound beast with an 1,800-pound-per-square-inch bite and an uncanny ability to track down hiding criminals. "He's a hunter, and strong, probably one of the strongest police dogs we've ever had on the force, but he's still got a lot to learn," Parcells said of Knight, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois. "He has a strong personality, which is a good thing for the line of work he's going into." Knight was purchased just days after Ranger suffered a fatal gunshot wound while attempting to flush out a hiding parolee who had taken refuge under the front porch of a home. The suspect, Agustin Murguia, had engaged police in a running gunbattle after officers approached his home just north of downtown. In the end, Murguia and Ranger were both killed, shattering the lives of two local families. Still, despite Parcells' sense of loss, he's thankful that Ranger's death likely spared the life of a fellow human officer. 'As hard as it is to go through this, I would rather lose my K-9 partner than one of my human partners," Parcells said shortly after the dog's death on Oct. 3. "I know (Murguia) wasn't shooting at the dog, he was shooting at us. If it hadn't been for Ranger, we would have had an officer killed that night." Healing wounds While Knight can never replace Ranger the friend and partner, he is replacing Ranger the police officer. Just as importantly, he's helping heal the wounds of that tragic October morning, when stunned viewers across the nation watched television news footage of Parcells tearfully carrying the mortally wounded Ranger into an emergency animal hospital in Orange County. "Knight's making it easier for us, especially my little (children), who really bonded with Ranger and didn't understand when he was suddenly gone," said Parcells. "People sending us stuff, I received about 1,000 letters from people around the country, and all the donations to our K-9 fund, really made a huge difference. It was an overwhelming reaction." In the weeks since Ranger's death, the Police Department's K-9 fund has received thousands of dollars in donations and several hundred condolence cards. Since donations fund the department's K-9 operations, including purchase of the dogs, which cost about $8,000 each, the recent cash infusion has allowed officers to purchase two new dogs to replace Ranger and Drago, another Belgian Malinois who died a few weeks before Ranger.Drago, who belonged to K-9 Officer Ernie Wolosewicz, suffered heatstroke when the air-conditioning unit failed in the police cruiser he was waiting in. Response touching K-9 officers said the public response following the dogs' deaths was overwhelming. "It was more than we ever imagined," said Long Beach K-9 Officer Joe Valenzuela, whose partner Winston will work alongside Knight in the future. It rejuvenated us to go out there and do our job knowing that there are so many people who support us. You forget that sometimes and can get a little jaded dealing with bad guys everyday." Drago's replacement will be purchased in the next week or two, with training to begin shortly after. Knight, currently training at the Long Beach Police Academy, is expected to start patrolling the streets before the end of the year. His regimen includes running around on outdoor obstacle courses and through abandoned buildings in search of a hidden suspect. The canine's extraordinary olfactory system allows him to locate bad guys with relative ease — whether they're in a closet, attic, under a porch, in a shed or stowed away in a container or trunk somewhere. Parcells and the other trainers are honing those skills now, teaching Knight to bark loudly when he hits his mark, and if a suspect moves, sink his sharp canine teeth into the perpetrator's arm or leg. "Biting is their reward for a successful find," Parcells explains. "They live for that." Parcells also plans to cross-train Knight for narcotics detection work, something Ranger never did. While the eight officers who comprise the K-9 unit are moving forward since Ranger and Drago's unexpected deaths, the transition hasn't been without its difficulties. Seasoning needed First, while Knight is bigger and more powerful than Ranger, he's not street-tested, and it may take up to a year on the job before Parcells knows he can fully trust him and his detection abilities. Then there are the memories. Parcells family has dozens of pictures, sketches and even a large painted portrait of Ranger around their home. Last week, an Orange County tattoo artist who read about Ranger's death needled a life-like portrait of the canine cop onto Parcells calf muscle. The two will be together forever. "Dogs are trustworthy to the point of flawlessness," Parcells said. "They're there for you always, no matter what's going on in your world."
In Loving Memory
of
In loving Memory
of
In Loving Memory
of
In Loving Memory
of
I
am sad to advise
you of the
untimely death
of one of our
canines (K-9
Rex) on 5/26/05.
Officer Louis
Linn of the
Kenner Police
Department in
Kenner, La was
his handler.
Officer Linn and
K-9 Rex attended
the NPCA 2004
Nationals in
Pasadena Tx and
placed in
Narcotics
Detection. The
cause of death
is unknown at
this time. I am
still waiting on
the report from
Louisiana State
University. I
ask that all of
you keep Officer
Linn, his wife
and two young
boys in your
prayers. As
canine handlers,
we all know how
our partners
become part of
our family. In
addition to
that, Officer
Linn's 7 year
old son is the
one that
discovered Rex
in his kennel.
If you would
like to drop
Officer Linn a
line his e-mail
In
Loving Memory of
Senior Officer
Jeff Wilson and
Rex:
In Loving Memory
of
On Monday,
April 18, 2005
K-9 REX suffered
a heart attack
and died while
at Independence
Animal
Hospital. K-9
Rex was
recovering from
minor surgery
last week and
recovering very
well, however
apparently the
stress of the
surgery was too
much for a
weakened heart.
Dr. Becker, Dr.
Weingert and the
staff of the
Independence
Animal Hospital
are to be
commended for
their heroic
efforts in an
attempt to save
Rex. K-9 Rex
started serving
the Independence
Police
Department in
September,
1998. Further
details of K-9
Rex's service to
the community
and his memorial
service will be
forthcoming.
In Loving Memory
of |
