KENOSHA, Wis. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A police dog is being called a “hero” for taking a bullet from a Chicago murder suspect who was then shot and wounded by Kenosha County sheriff’s deputies Thursday morning.
According to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office, Chicago police tipped off deputies that a suspect wanted Thursday for two murders on the city’s Northwest Side was in their area.
Police spotted the suspect at the Benson Corners gas station off of Highway 50 in Bristol around 11:15 a.m. Thursday and ordered the man out of the car. According to Kenosha County Sheriff David G. Beth, the man got out of the car and then ran off while holding a gun.
"We had a canine officer, Riggs. Riggs was released and captured the suspect just before running onto Highway 50, while the suspect still had the gun in his hand and Riggs took the suspect to the ground," Beth said.
Sheriff Beth said the suspect then shot Riggs in the forehead, wounding him.
The German Shepherd “trotted off”, and according to CBS 2, the canine officer is being treated at a Buffalo Grove animal trauma center and is expected to survive.
Police ended up shooting the murder suspect a couple of times, striking him in the abdomen and leg, Beth said. The man was taken to a hospital for treatment in Wisconsin and was undergoing surgery.
Beth said the dog likely prevented further harm in the incident.
“Riggs has done an outstanding job, and in a lot of ways, he’s a hero today, because he at least took the suspect down, kept him from running onto Highway 50, a felon with a handgun, and who knows what the felon would have done? Who knows if he would have gone up there and tried carjacking somebody at gunpoint?”
Police did not say what murder in Chicago the car was connected to. The Racine County sheriff’s office was investigating the shooting.
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(WBBM Newsradio and Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this copy.)