SUNNYVALE, California — A German Shepherd named Jax has been identified as the police dog reportedly stabbed to death by a suspect who was later shot and killed by an officer Tuesday afternoon, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
“It is with great sorrow that we announced the line of duty death of our beloved K9, Jax,” Chief Phan Ngo said in a Twitter post Wednesday. “Our hearts are heavy and broken as we mourn his loss.”
Jax was part of a police response to a report of a stabbing at a high-end apartment complex on East Weddell Drive off Fair Oaks Avenue around 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Officers arrived at the Encasa property and found a victim outside suffering from stabbing injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. The victim told them that the suspected attacker was still inside one of the apartment units.
Official details were vague about what happened next, but at some point a man armed with a knife stabbed Jax. At least one officer then opened fire at the suspect, who later died at the hospital.
Police said more information about the circumstances of the confrontation and shooting would be released Wednesday afternoon.
Check back later for updates to this story.
———
©2017 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)
Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
