A South Fulton K-9 was killed Friday morning during a joint operation with College Park police when officers shot at an aggravated assault suspect who was believed to be armed, officials said.
K-9 Max was shot by a College Park officer as they chased the suspect in an area near Lakemont Drive, South Fulton police said in a statement. The suspect had been pulled over earlier in the day and fired multiple gunshots before escaping into the Camelot Condominium complex, according to police. The man was spotted in College Park around 10:45 a.m., leading the K-9 and his handler to respond to help with the search.
Few other details were released about the circumstances around Max’s death. A South Fulton police spokesman said the suspect was taken into custody during the operation, but the man has not been publicly identified.
“The South Fulton Police Department is working closely with the College Park Police Department to thoroughly investigate this heartbreaking incident,” the police statement said. “We are committed to understanding the full circumstances of this tragedy and ensuring such an incident does not occur again.”
Police did not say if they would request an independent investigation by the GBI, as is the typical procedure for law enforcement-related shootings.
South Fulton police are already planning a memorial service for Max which they say will be open to the public.
It has been a particularly deadly year for Georgia’s working dogs in law enforcement; Max is at least the sixth K-9 to die in the line of duty in 2023. Four fallen K-9 officers are listed on the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP), while the death of a fifth, Clayton County K-9 Wade, was reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. No more than three K-9 officers were killed in any of the previous 10 years, as listed by the ODMP.
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