A Lake County sheriff’s officer shot a person who shot his police dog Wednesday afternoon in northwest Indiana, according to authorities.
About 3 p.m. the officer conducted a traffic stop in the 700 block of 42nd Avenue in Gary, and a passenger ran from the car, according to Indiana State Police. The driver of the silver car also drove off west on 42nd Avenue from the stop.
The sheriff’s officer and his K-9 partner, Blade, followed the person who ran from the car down an alley toward railroad tracks that were north of the stop, state police said. At some point near the tracks, the passenger fired shots at the officer and struck the police dog.
The officer returned fire and struck the passenger, who was taken to Methodist Hospitals North Lake campus in Gary with “life-threatening” injuries, police said. The second suspect remained at large Wednesday evening.
The dog, a 6-year-old Dutch shepherd with four years on the force’s Gang Unit, was taken to Purdue University Animal Hospital in West Lafayette. Blade was “still undergoing tests” Wednesday night, but was expected to survive.
Sheriff’s detectives and Indiana State Police are investigating.
