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WPD Releases Details On Altercation Resulting In K9 Officer's Death

Courtesy Wichita Police Department Twitter
K9 officer Rooster was killed in the line of duty on March 18, 2017.

The Wichita Police Department has released more information about an officer-involved shooting over the weekend that left a man and a police dog dead.

At a news briefing, Chief of Police Gordon Ramsay identified the dead man as 25-year-old Kevin C. Perry.

Ramsay says officers were called to a domestic disturbance at a home on west MacArthur, when Perry exited the residence. That's when the canine officer, named Rooster, was sent after the suspect to stop him from re-entering the home. 

Credit Courtesy of Wichita Police Department Twitter.
A graphic circulated by the WPD following the death of K9 officer Rooster.

Ramsay says that because the situation unfolded very quickly, the dog was not wearing a bulletproof vest. While it's not protocol to deploy a K9 officer if a suspect is armed, Ramsay explained that it was only after the dog had reached Perry that officers noticed a gun in the suspects waistband.

Shots were fired by Perry and two officers. Both Perry and the dog were fatally wounded.

Ramsay said that the less lethal weapons officers in the WPD began training with last month were not an option in the situation because of how fast the altercation developed.

"It is unfortunate for everybody involved," Ramsay says. "The suspect's family and loved ones and friends, as well as the officers that were involved with this, especially the handler of Rooster."

Ramsay says Rooster died after taking bullets to his neck and shoulder. He is the first Wichita police dog to die in the line of duty.

"We didn't determine the outcome in this situation," Ramsay says. "The suspect determined the outcome."

Authorities believe the suspect shot the dog, but an investigation will be conducted.

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Follow Abigail Beckman on Twitter @AbigailKMUW.

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