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K-9 Rudy and his handler Deputy Day pose with a plaque Rudy won at a Las Vegas competition in March. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department/Facebook
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A shooting that erupted during a search for a suspect in Perris ended with the death of the suspect and a Riverside County sheriff’s K-9, authorities said Saturday.
At 4:47 p.m. Friday, a resident contacted deputies regarding an unknown man and woman who were on the resident’s property near the 22200 block of River Road, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez.
Deputies were joined at the scene by a K-9 handler and his K-9 partner, “Rudy,” Brito-Gonzalez said. Deputies confirmed the man was a wanted felon, and they quickly established a perimeter in search of the suspect.
At some point during the search, Rudy alerted deputies to the location where the suspect was hiding, and the suspect fired a handgun at deputies, striking Rudy, Brito-Gonzalez said. The suspect ignored deputies’ commands to surrender, and he and the woman were seen running toward an occupied home by a sheriff’s aviation unit, sheriff’s officials said.
As deputies approached the suspects, the man pointed the gun at them and deputies opened fire, killing the suspect.
Rudy was taken to a veterinary hospital where he later died, Brito-Gonzalez said.
No deputies were injured during the shooting and the woman was detained pending further investigation.
According to the department, Rudy finished first in the handler protection category at last month’s Las Vegas Metro Police K-9 Trials.
It was unclear how many deputies opened fire during the shooting, but all who were involved will be placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation, per standard department policy.
