Dog in US takes bullet meant for police officer

A bomb sniffing dog took a bullet that was meant for his handler during a shootout. The dog is now being hailed as a hero.

In the past, Donald Trump’s K9 Kasper saved him and is now recovering after being shot in the side. The dog was shot when deputies with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) exchanged gunfire with a wanted man who was killed.

On Friday in Jupiter, Florida, Phillip Oshea was accused of a shooting and robbery.

Later that day, deputies came to apprehend him, and he fired shots at them, Fox 13 News reported.

“During the gunfire, PBSO K9 Kasper was shot while protecting his handler,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that had a photo of the wounded dog on a veterinarian’s operating table.

Deputies had pursued Oshea to Jupiter after a shootout off Okeechobee Boulevard. In the shootout, a police officer was injured while diving for cover.

Details of the final shootout were scant, but police said it took place in a parking lot.

Kasper was hit on left hip by gunfire, during the encounter. The bullet missed his vital organs. It was removed with surgery at Palm Beach Veterinary Specialists, according to a video posted on Twitter by the sheriff’s office.

The bullet was out and Kasper had recovered from anesthesia. The video showed him walking out of the clinic with relative ease.

“He’s on antibiotics and is walking fairly well, all things considered,” said Michele Tucker, the veterinary center’s managing director of patient services, on the video.

Kasper, a bomb-sniffing, patrol and street crimes dog, has protected Trump during his visits to Florida. 

(With PTI inputs)