K9 Sjaak

Sjaak

K9 Sjaak succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained the previous day after a subject opened fire on his handler's patrol car with an AR-15 rifle without provocation.

The patrol car had just pulled out of the La Vergne Police Department parking lot onto Murfreesboro Road when another car pulled alongside of it and the occupant opened fire, striking the patrol car. K9 Sjaak was struck multiple times by rounds that penetrated the patrol car's door and kennel. The handler pursued the subject into an apartment complex on Rutherford Point Circle where the man exited his car and opened fire again. K9 Sjaak's handler and other officers returned fire and wounded the man. Despite being mortally wounded, subject then got back into his car and drove a short distance before crashing into a parked vehicle. The man was taken to a local hospital where he died.

K9 Sjaak's handler discovered that K9 Sjaak had been shot after the subject was taken into custody. He was transported to a veterinary hospital where he died from the wounds the following day after undergoing surgery.

K9 Sjaak had served with the La Vergne Police Department for six years.