© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fallen K9 Honored By Wichita Police Department

Abigail Beckman
Officer Daniel Gumm eulogizes his fallen police dog, Rooster.

Authorities from across Kansas gathered on Friday to remember a Wichita police dog killed earlier this month.

The crowd included dozens of police dogs and their handlers, all there to remember Rooster, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois. The dog is the first Wichita K9 officer to die in the line of duty.

Credit Abigail Beckman

Rooster was shot March 18 when officers responded to a domestic disturbance. The dog was sent after a suspect, 25-year-old Kevin Perry, who, unbeknownst to police, had a gun in his waistband. Gunfire was exchanged, and both Rooster and Perry were killed.

Officer Daniel Gumm, Rooster's handler, described his K9 partner as a take-charge companion who always went all in, just as he did the night he lost his life.

"I'm here today because that dog was there and the guys that I work with were there too," Gumm said.

Gumm said that in addition to training for more than 3,000 hours, Rooster had helped seize upwards of 250 pounds of marijuana and 10 pounds of meth, and helped to apprehend more than 35 people.

--

Follow Abigail Beckman on Twitter @AbigailKMUW.

To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.