PLYMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - A Plymouth police officer was forced to fatally shoot his K-9 partner after the animal turned on him while he was preparing to search for a suspect on Tuesday, officials said.
Officers responding to a report of a suspect who had fled the scene around 9: 20 a.m. requested the assistance of K-9 Officer Keith Larson, who pulled into a parking lot in the area of 179 Court St. to prepare his partner, Nico, for the search, according to Plymouth Police Chief Michael E. Botieri.
It was then that police say Nico attacked, and after several attempts to disengage him, Larson was forced to use his service weapon. Nico died at the scene.
Larson was taken to South Shore Hospital with injuries to his hands.
Larson is a 17-year veteran of the Plymouth Police Department and has been assigned to the K-9 Unit since March of 2017 and has been assigned to Nico since August of last year. He received a bite to his hand while deploying Nico in April and were reassigned to the Sheriff’s Dpeartment K-9 Academy and recertified for service in July.
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