Jedi: Seattle cops hold memorial for K9 stabbed to death by naked burglar armed with a machete
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A dramatic bodycam footage shows a Seattle cop shooting a burglary suspect who was running with just a towel on and wielding a machete after he stabbed a police dog and injured another officer in the face.
This incident happened after police received a 911 call at around 2:12 pm on Wednesday, January 5, from a resident on South Eddy Street about a man armed with a knife trying to break into a home. The panic caller tells the operator, "I've got an intruder in my house". "He's threatening me with the machete."
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The police video then shows a patrol car pulling up to a nearby location where the sergeant says on the radio, "We got something going on here at 23 and Eddy. Might be a guy. Hispanic male..some kind of towel on him." The officers who arrived at the scene, see a neighbor warning away the burglar with a baseball bat.
The burglar who is yet to be identified starts to run away after he sees the officers approach him. Jedi, the K9 dog, and his partner chase down the burglary suspect on foot while the sergeant from Seattle Police Department tails the man in the police car.
The footage shows the officer on foot yelling at the suspect to stop several times during the chase. "Stop. stop now. Get on the ground. Do it now. Get on the ground," says the officer pointing his gun towards the burglar. When the suspect crosses the road, still holding the machete without stopping, the officer releases K9 dog, Jedi, whom the burglar stabs and kills. The suspect also cuts Jedi's partner in the face when the officer tries to move in close to him. Tim Jones, the sergeant then opens the fire seven times at the burglar, killing him.
While both K9 officer, Jedi, and the burglary suspect died at the scene, the injured officer was immediately taken to a nearby hospital. Tim Jones who shot the burglar was placed on paid leave as per the department's policy for police shooting cases. This case is being investigated by the Seattle Force Investigation Team and the Office of Police Accountability.
The Seattle Times reported that the investigators will look into the mental state of the suspect at the time of the incident and whether drugs were involved.
Meanwhile, The Seattle Police Department held a memorial for Jedi on Monday, January 10. The SPD said Jedi was one of the six police K9's in the department. He and his handler were involved in many successful tracks, searches, and arrests over Jedi's five years on the force. The SPD wrote in a tweet, "This is a loss not only for SPD, but for our community."
People visited the Seattle Police Department's south precinct off Myrtle Street with flowers, notes, and pictures as they gave their respects to Jedi. Police officers said Jedi was one of the best in the department.
"In person, tangible. So, I came here, I left some flowers, said my piece with Jedi," said Ann Graves, the retired director of the Seattle Animal Shelter. Talking more about the K9 police dog, "The bond that I've seen with K9's and their handlers i.e. their officers are a strong, strong special human-animal bond", Graves said.
