A man and a police dog were injured during a shooting episode involving police officers in St. George late Tuesday night, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office hasn’t released the condition of suspect, who was shot by police after the man shot the canine.
Washington County Attorney’s Office Chief Investigator Barry Golding. said the man was shot once in the arm, and multiple times in the lower half of his body. Police believe the man is from St. George.
The canine was reportedly in stable condition following surgery, and was released from a veterinary clinic on Wednesday afternoon, according to a Washington County Sheriff’s Office tweet.
K9 Tess has been released from the Vet to go home with her handler. Full recovery predicted in 6 weeks.
— Washington Co SO, UT (@washeriff) August 30, 2017
Events began just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, when a man allegedly stole a truck after assaulting the vehicle’s owner near 400 North Bluff Street, according to a Wednesday news release from the Washington County Attorney’s Office.
The owner of the truck told police there was an assault rifle and ammunition in the vehicle. The owner of the truck had confronted the suspect, who had been throwing rocks at the truck, the owner reported to police.
“It turned out he was trying to break into his vehicle,” said Golding, adding that the suspect didn‘t take the assault rifle when he stole the truck.
The suspect later abandoned the truck and stole a second truck, and the St. George police pursued, according to the news release.
The suspect crashed the truck into a house near 2500 Santa Clara Drive. Officers from three agencies — the Santa Clara police department, St. George police department and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office — “attempted to talk the suspect into surrendering,” while the man sat in the truck, the release states.
After a 30-minute stand-off, the suspect opened the truck door and Tess, a 7-year-old Malinois police dog, jumped into the cab, according to the release. The suspect shot the dog in the head with a handgun.
Officers from the three agencies then fired at the suspect, who was struck multiple times, the release states. The suspect fired multiple more rounds after hitting the dog, and didn’t hit anyone else, Golding said. No police officers were injured during the episode.
Police believe the man found the handgun in the second truck he stole, Golding said.
The suspect was taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center for surgery, and while police believe he will recover, his exact condition was not released Wednesday.
The police dog was taken to a veterinary specialist in Las Vegas after initial surgery in Washington County. The dog was in stable condition Wednesday morning, according to a tweet from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and released Wednesday afternoon.
K9 Tess happy to be headed home. pic.twitter.com/nto98OaRyl
— Washington Co SO, UT (@washeriff) August 30, 2017
Washington COSO (Utah) #K9 officer shot in the line of duty transported to Vegas for surgery this morning. Now in stable condition. pic.twitter.com/cSOJ6Ojywy
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) August 30, 2017
The suspect will be arrested and charged once he is released from the hospital, Golding said.