"K-9 partners are more than working animals; they are members of our department family," notes the city police's statement. "They are trained and trusted to serve alongside their handlers in keeping our community safe."

A source familiar with the matter said heat is suspected as a factor in Blue's death. A necropsy is expected to be performed to help determine the cause of death of the dog, who, sources estimate, was 3 or 4 years old.

As for the dog handler, without naming him the Charlottesville Police Department urged the public to keep Darius Nash and his family in their thoughts. Nash is a former Charlottesville school resource officer who earned national acclaim nine years ago for his quiet dignity during a Ku Klux Klan rally in Charlottesville.

An image of him serving as part of the cordon protecting KKK ralliers one month before the infamously deadly Unite the Right rally-turned-riot went viral on social media. The photo got mentioned in Time magazine after the Aug. 12, 2017, death of anti-racist activist Heather Heyer during the riot at the hands of self-avowed White supremacist James Fields Jr.

“I swore to protect my city and that’s what I was there to do," Nash told Time.

Today, Nash may find himself the subject of scrutiny, as whatever transpired in his car will be examined by the Appomattox Field Office of the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

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