Holly MatkinBristol, WI – A double homicide suspect from Chicago was shot by Kenosha County sheriff’s deputies Thursday morning after the suspect shot a police K9 in the head, according to investigators.
The series of events leading up to the shooting began after the Chicago Police Department (CPD) contacted the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) and asked them to check on a vehicle that belonged to a homicide victim, the Kenosha News reported.
The CPD said they believed the stolen car was located in the 20000-block of 75th Street at the Benson Corners Shell Station.
Three KCSO deputies responded to the gas station at approximately 11:15 a.m. and spotted a suspect behind the shell of the stolen vehicle, WBBM reported.
They initiated a high-risk traffic stop and ordered the suspect to come out of the vehicle with his hands in the air, but the suspect refused to comply and fled from the car on foot with a gun in his hand, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told reporters.
KCSO K9 Riggs was released to help apprehend the fleeing suspect and caught him just before the suspect ran onto Highway 50, according to Sheriff Beth.
That’s when the gunman opened fire on K9 Riggs, shooting him in the forehead, WBBM reported.
Deputies returned fire, hitting the suspect in the leg and the abdomen.
He was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery, WBBM reported.
His identity has not been released.
K9 Riggs was rushed to a veterinary trauma center in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.
Doctors determined the bullet fractured his skull but said it did not penetrate his brain, WBBM reported.
Sources said K9 Riggs has been responding well to treatment so far.
Sheriff Beth said K9 Riggs is expected to survive his wound, but that he will not likely return to duty.
The sheriff praised the heroic K9 for protecting others by stopping the armed suspect before he reached the highway, WBBM reported.
“Who knows what the felon would have done?” Sheriff Beth said. “Who knows if he would have gone out there and tried carjacking somebody at gunpoint?”
One of K9 Riggs’ trainers, Paul Pomazal, described the police dog as “a little scrapper,” WBBM reported.
“He’s a small dog with a big heart and a big attitude,” Pomazal said.
The Racine County Sheriff’s Office is handling the ongoing investigation into the officer-involved shooting, according to WGN.
According to investigators, the stolen vehicle the gunman was driving belonged to one of two men who were shot to death in two separate attacks in Chicago on Thursday morning, WBBM reported.
The first fatal encounter occurred in the 3900-block of West Fullerton Avenue as a 25-year-old man was sitting at a bus stop shortly after 1 a.m., according to the news outlet.
Investigators said a suspect approached him and they got into an argument just before the suspect shot him in the chest, WBBM reported.
The victim died at the scene.
The suspect ran off on foot to the 2300-block of North Keystone, where he carjacked 41-year-old Miguel Padilla and shot him in the chest, according to police.
The suspect fled the scene in Padilla’s vehicle.
Padilla was later pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, WBBM reported.
