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By Jackie Valley (contact) 
Published Monday, May 14, 2012 | 12:33 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, May 15, 2012 | 10:06 a.m.
Nguyen Hooker
A Metro Police dog entered a backyard Monday morning with a clear mission: Corner the suspect hiding out back there.
When the suspect attempted to flee, the dog stayed true to its mission and bolted over the backyard wall right behind the suspect. And that’s where the mission fell apart.
In an apparent state of confusion, the dog bit a patrol officer on the other side of the wall, prompting another officer to shoot the dog.
Police said the incident unfolded shortly after 11 a.m. Monday when a man called 911 and reported his male friend was “acting erratically with a knife” in the 200 block of Wisteria Avenue. Police said they also received reports that the man had been going door-to-door and had tried to enter at least one residence in the western valley neighborhood near Jones Boulevard and Alta Drive.
The suspect, who was possibly chasing after a roommate, ran from police when officers arrived, setting off a foot pursuit through the neighborhood, Metro spokesman Bill Cassell said. Officers caught up with the suspect, but a struggle ensued and the man fled again, he said.
The suspect broke into at least two homes in the neighborhood during the pursuit, Cassell said.
Eventually, a police helicopter located the suspect in the backyard of a residence on Upland Boulevard, a street parallel to Wisteria Avenue, Cassell said.
Upon arrival, officers called in a K-9 unit, which sent a police dog named Marco into the backyard to force the suspect to comply, Cassell said. That's when the suspect jumped the wall and ran.
The dog followed the suspect, but apparently became confused and bit a patrol officer approaching from the other side, Cassell said. The dog's K-9 handler tried to get Marco off the officer, but the dog tried to bite again, at which point another officer shot the animal, police said.
In addition to physical efforts, authorities tried to subdue the dog with a Taser before the officer resorted to using a gun, said Capt. Larry Burns of Metro’s Bolden Area Command, which covers the neighborhood where the incident happened.
The dog was taken to Metro's veterinary clinic, where it was stabilized and sent to a trauma center, Cassell said. He underwent surgery and, as of Monday evening, was in critical but stable condition, police said.
Marco, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, joined the police force in January, but his first day working as a patrol dog was April 25, police said.
Burns said the sad situation has upset all the officers, who are hoping the dog recovers.
“This dog is very athletic,” Burns said. “It scaled those big walls with no problem.”
The officer bitten suffered minor injuries and was transported to University Medical Center, Cassell said.
The suspect, identified by police as 18-year-old Nguyen Hooker, was taken into custody in the vicinity, Cassell said. Hooker was booked into the Las Vegas City Jail on counts of obstructing a police officer and resisting a police officer, officials said.
Metro will release the identities of the officers involved in the shooting within 48 hours. At that time, the department also will release the name of the injured officer.
Bob: We have a reporter on the scene now. Check back for updates.
Dang they shot the wrong dog.
Dang the dog done bite the wrong one.
On a serious note I do hope the officer and the dog both recover.
That is funny as hell.
They test tasers on officers so that officers know what it is like to be tased.
Maybe we should let all officers get bit once or twice too.
In all seriousness, this shows that an animal (dog), even being well tained can/will do what instinct tells it to do. Never trust an animal 100%. Hope the dog and officer recover fully.
I smell a foul and misleading statement on the part of the on-scene Metro officers.
The Las Vegas Sun quotes; "the dog followed the suspect, but apparently became confused and bit an officer, police said. The dog's K-9 handler tried to get the dog off the officer, but the dog tried to bite again, prompting an officer to shoot the dog, police said."
K-9 dogs become confused when officers make mistakes. From the training manual:
"Other than the handler, pursuing officers need to be within an arm's reach of the handler, parallel to him, at all times. Follow the instructions from the handler exactly. Upon a suspect contact, don't rush in. If you are in front of the dog, particularly moving, you may get bit. If you are accidentally bitten by the dog, attempt to remain as still and quiet as possible. The handler will remove the dog as quickly as possible and in a fashion where the bite injury will be minimized. Please, do not shoot the K-9."
You bet I'm waiting for an update on this story!!!
Oh my gosh. I hope the officers is well. That poor dog and handler. He has to feel so bad.
If the handler had then shot the officer who shot his dog I would be strongly tempted to call it justifiable.
I was hoping Bradley would post on this. Once the details had come out I was thinking it had to be some kind of human error.
is metro trigger happy???
Was it REALLY necessary to shoot the K-9 officer??? I do NOT think so.. he was "confused" and it couldn't have been THAT bad if the metro officer only suffered "minor injuries"! It is an animal and surely it NEVER walked into the metro department to apply for this JOB!! This makes me angry!!-_-
As reported in an update by the Las Vegas Sun; "The dog followed the suspect, but apparently became confused and bit a patrol officer approaching from the other side, Cassell said. The Metro report goes on, "the dog's K-9 handler tried to get the dog off the officer, but the dog tried to bite again, at which point another officer shot the animal, police said."
Yes, here is the mistake by officers; "the K-9 dog bit a patrol officer approaching from the other side", as admitted to my Metro officials.
Refer back to my initial entry on the training manual for officers with K-9's. It states, ""Other than the handler, pursuing officers need to be within an arm's reach of the handler, parallel to him, at all times. Follow the instructions from the handler exactly. Upon a suspect contact, don't rush in. If you are in front of the dog, particularly moving, you may get bit. If you are accidentally bitten by the dog, attempt to remain as still and quiet as possible. The handler will remove the dog as quickly as possible and in a fashion where the bite injury will be minimized. Please, do not shoot the K-9."
Was the pursuing officer not aware of the on-scene presence of K-9? Did the officer not receive training in these situations with K-9? I assure you the officer knew of the presence of K-9 and was appropriately trained. Did the officer who was bitten by the K-9 remain still and quiet to allow the handler time to get the K-9 off of him? Apparently the officer did not.
Yes Metro may contend that there was too much chaos in close proximity for the K-9 to follow commands of his handler. However, the officer violated policy by, initially "approaching from the other side" when he knew the K-9 dog was in pursuit of the suspect. No doubt a whole conglomeration of human errors took place in the aftermath at ultimately the police dogs expense.
Another nice job in accordance with your training. You all make me ill.
Thank you, BChap! I would like to express myself so eloquently and intelligently, but I am SO FURIOUS with the IJIT METRO OFFICERS in this incident that I am unable to get past my outright anger. IJITS!!!! both of them! My heart goes out to the handler and the police dog. I cannot imagine what I will feel should I outlive my best friend. I pray that the dog lives to "tell the tale" happy in retirement. As for the IJIT METRO OFFICERS who should have known better... whatevs.
@B Chap...Isn't it also required before a K9 and their handler go into the field for patrol that the dog MUST understand and follow the commands of the handler? For the K9 handler to have to shoot his own partner (dog) his commands to the dog must of not been working. I can understand commanding the dog to stop a couple of times before the dog lets go because the dog has just as much adrenaline as the officers during a foot pursuit. But when it comes down to having to pull your sidearm and shoot then something went wrong. The other officer was probably in the wrong position as your manual stated but the dog obviously ignored numerous commands by the handler. Would love to learn how long this handler and K9 have been together.
Furthermore, these two ought to have to repay the citizens of Las Vegas the thousands of dollars paid to train the police dog AND, should the dog survive their incompetence, be made to pay $20 each month (via written check) to whomever cares for the dog until its passing - regardless of whether or not they remain on the force. This might keep the training they received regarding K-9s first and foremost in their pointy little heads. This poor animal was only doing what it was trained to do. Again, it makes me so sad that I am furious.
In reply to "BrianD"; you wrote the officer was probably in the wrong position. No, the officer was in the wrong position, and he knew better. I can tell you within a high degree of accuracy this same officer, again did not follow his training to, "If you are accidentally bitten by the K-9 dog, remain as still and quiet as possible. The handler will remove the dog as quickly as possible and in a fashion where the bite injury will be minimized. Please, do not shoot the K-9."
The police dog got shot by his own fellow officer for doing exactly as the K-9 was trained to do. When officers do not follow the training that has been given to them, illegal and unjustified uses of force and shootings take place.
But, I have to say, when an officer resorts to shooting in an unjustified manner one of his own, God only knows what they will do to the rest of society. Metro has been, and remains, "OUT OF CONTROL"!!!
I completely understand BChap..but my main question was... is the dog supposed to obey the handlers commands at all times no matter who is where or what is happening? I know you have a LEO background so that's why I'm asking you that question. If your answer is no, then we should reconsider maybe go back to having blood hounds as tracking dogs for the police.
In reply to: "BrianD". Yes, both the K-9 and the person who has been bitten are both expected to follow the commands given by the K-9 handler. Even though the K-9 dog did lunge in an attempt to bite the officer again, here is the question that will probably never be answered honestly. Did the officer break the "freeze / silence instruction"? If so, the K-9 was completely justified to go back into an attack mode. This is precisely what these dogs are trained to do.
I have a lot more faith in the K-9 to carry-out his duties as trained much more than the officer who broke departmental policy and training regulations from the beginning of this foot pursuit with the suspect.
I'm sure it wasn't just a second lunge at the officer...for a K9 handler to shoot his/her dog they must of known something was horribly wrong and nothing was going their way. My good friend is a K9 handler and trainer back east and he would NEVER resort to shooting his partner. Something happened here that was one of those "this never happens" situations. And I agree B Chap it all had to do with training on everyone's part. Except the criminal of course he knew what to do...run.
"BrianD"; it was not the handler who shot the K-9. It was another Metro officer.
As quoted from the Las Vegas Sun, "The dog's K-9 handler tried to get the dog off the officer, but the dog tried to bite again, at which point another officer shot the animal, police said."
Sheriff Gillespie and DA Wolfson; I would certainly appreciate it if you would publicly name the officer who shot this K-9 dog and leave the broom in the closet. Although these dogs are legally classified as property, are K-9's not a life and considered officers? Or, is this still one set of enforceable laws for the public, but an exception for some of your "trigger happy" officers?
Amazing those hospital authorities said the regulation breaking officer's injuries were minor. Was this worth shooting a fellow officer (K-9) who was performing his duties as trained? Apparently so.
Sorry BChap..I read the article wrong. It was another officer other than the handler that shot the dog. My bad. I just couldn't imagine a handler shooting their own dog unless things went horribly wrong. I take 100% responsibility for my previous posts.
That's okay Brian, I've misread many articles. You asked some very pertinent questions. A shame that such a great discussion was on the heels of such a sad and tragic event.
Anyway, your statements from "All Comments" drop off in three days. When I've erred, (LOL) more than a few times, my section comments are a permanent record of the Las Vegas Sun and frequently used against me in other debates.
Brad, this is way they don't want to uses cams.
@Mz Pixie - you weren't there so how can you know whether it was necessary or not to shoot the dog? I love animals but if the dog needs to be shot then he needs to be shot. I do NOT put animal life before human life and to just presume that it wasn't 'THAT bad' is ludicrous.
@ azsk8fan - NO, I was not there.. neither were you. Just because it is an animal does not mean you need to shoot it when its being forced to do a job it NEVER applied for and becomes "confused" then bites another officer. I'm sure if the metro officer would have been who became confused and had shot another officer by mistake no one would shoot that officer, Right?! Exactly!^^
Yes Metro may contend that there was too much chaos in close proximity for the K-9 to follow commands of his handler.[Sic]
Is this not what the families of most officer involved shootings say the problem is with Officers training or lack of. However that excuse is not good enough for The D.A. so that excuse is not good enough for this case either.
Comment removed by moderator. - -
Great, now Metro is shooting its own... what exactly would have been wrong with tazing the dog instead? Guns should be the last resort, not the first.
learn how to read Jon..they did
One day, we'll all have to start showing this much compassion for people. Wouldn't that be something?
Has the K-9 dog been drug tested?
Bunch of haters on here. I doubt any of you have ever been in such a dynamic situation as a foot chase. I am sure the officer who shot the dog feels bad as well as his handler. I think you all missed the key point in the article that the dog was new to patrol, less than a month, maybe the handler also.
As far as BChap, you love to sit there on your computer in your house and bag on law enforcement. You spout out your experience as correctional officer. That my friend is not police work, it is supervising inmates. I feel you have a chip on your shoulder with valley law enforcement for some reason. It is just sad that you have people confused on these message boards that you have some type of experience in police work. Very easy to arm chair quarterback.
Bring on the hate, haters...
"NoLocal" from "All Comments"; no one with any form of sense gives your posts any type of creditability.
Especially when you write in one of your posts; "Vegas is a pit except for a few small areas. Henderson is the one place that actually seems like a normal community in this litter box we live in."
You live in Henderson and think you are special and better than others? You like those kind of cops who beat up citizens having a diabetic attack don't you? It figures.
I stand by my opinion of Vegas, it is a pit. I live here now and try to make it better by being a good citizen. I have lived many other places, so I have the right to compare.
However, I give credit where credit is deserved and don't paint all police with negative comments every time an article about police is in the Sun. While I don't always agree with our valley police departments i.e. the Cole shooting, I think as a whole they are doing a fine job. There will always be bad apples, no matter the profession. I am sure you knew bad jailers at the NDOC, but I am sure most were good at what they did.
I challenge you to go out on a ride alone with the three local departments and then post about your experiences.
As for being special and better than others because of my zip code, no it is where I choose to live because it is safe, well maintained and close to where I work. As for the diabetic attack, police and the DA both agreed it was not criminal and yes I would say it was wrong and handled poorly by HPD.
In reply to "NoLocal" from the "All Comments" section; after reading your latest post, you just might be a decent man.
However, don't underestimate my loyalty to law enforcement. It is as solid as a rock, without question. However, I DO NOT like officers who bring discredit to our profession by acts of unlawful and or unprofessional conduct. We, as officers, are trained in particular methodologies for appropriate reason.
In the eyes of society, just one wrong act of an officer counteracts everything that good officers have sacrificed, to include their lives. This public resentment is enhanced when police agencies and or their unions attempt to stalemate or eliminate an officer's accountability for alleged misconduct.
As you recommend "NoLocal", I don't have to take a ride with anybody. As a retired officer and a former long-term Marine I've been in more than my fair share of life and death situations. I have always upheld the honor of my uniform.
Instead of hiding behind an arrogant screen name, be man enough to reveal your real identity and come take the ride of differing views of opinions and the debates that surface from this.
I think, after reading the article 2x's that the K-9 was not shot by his handler but another officer.
I pray that the K-9 will recover and the officer that was bitten also.
Ah if the dog needs a new home, I can help out.
Can we execute that african for causing so much trouble?