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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 14, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A K-9 from the Herriman Police Department was killed along with a violent fugitive in an officer-involved shooting in downtown Salt Lake City Thursday night.
The shooting took place at about 11:35 p.m. outside the Peter Pan Apartments at 445 E. 300 South.
Brandon Holt, chief deputy of the U.S. Marshals’ Violent Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, told Gephardt Daily that deputies and task force members were conducting surveillance of a wanted felon when he was located inside the apartment building.
Holt said task force members were trying to take the fugitive into custody as he left the apartments when he suddenly ran off.
While being chased, the suspect allegedly brandished a weapon and was shot by at least one task force member, and died, Holt said.
During the shooting, scanner traffic indicated a police dog was gravely wounded. Hondo, the Herriman police dog, died of his injuries.
Holt said the fugitive, whose name was not released, had a violent criminal history.
A woman was taken into custody in the aftermath of the shooting. Holt said it was unclear why she was being detained.
This was the second fatal officer-involved shooting outside the Peter Pan Apartments in the last 15 months. On Oct. 18, 2018, 23-year-old Andrey Tkachenko of Salt Lake City was shot and killed by detectives working for the Metro Gang Unit and Directive Enforcement Unit.
The Unified Police Department released a statement on the death of K-9 Hondo:
“Our hearts are broken this morning after learning of the death of a Herriman City Police Department K9, who was shot and killed late last night while apprehending a violent fugitive. Our thoughts are with the entire Herriman PD family, and particularly with the K9 handler who lost his beloved partner and friend.”
Gephardt Daily will update this developing story as more information becomes available.
