An 18-year-old and a police K-9 were killed Thursday afternoon following a shootout behind a Gwinnett County motel.
Police were investigating gang activity at the InTown Suites on Willow Trail Parkway when they saw the teenager and a woman standing next to a vehicle in the parking lot, authorities said.
Both entered a motel room, and a Gwinnett officer discovered the car was stolen after running its license plate, the GBI said Friday. When the teen and woman came out of the motel, the officer approached them about the stolen vehicle. Both ran from the parking lot in different directions, according to the GBI.
The SWAT unit, including K-9 Blue, began searching the area for the teen, identified Friday as Robert Samuel Craig Lusk of Stone Mountain. He fled into nearby woods, according to Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn.
“The search spanned a large area and eventually K-9 Blue detected a scent that led the officers back to the wooded area behind the lodge,” the GBI said in a statement.
The police dog was released toward Lusk, who reportedly shot at the officers. Police returned fire, and both the teen and K-9 Blue were struck and later died from their injuries.
It’s still unclear if Lusk shot the dog or if K-9 Blue was inadvertently struck by Gwinnett officers during the shootout.
Authorities are still searching for the woman who ran from the motel parking lot ahead of the fatal shooting.
The incident marks the 69th police shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
According to police, K-9 Blue was the first full-time dog dedicated to Gwinnett County’s SWAT team.
“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.
K-9 Blue was also the 11th police dog killed in the line of 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, K-9 Thorr, was killed in a car crash, AJC.com previously reported.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Gwinnett detectives at 770-513-5300. Tipsters can also contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or on www.stopcrimeATL.com.
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