K9 dies in 4-story fall down elevator shaft in pre-dawn search, Pennsylvania cops say

A pre-dawn police search for five suspected burglars Sunday at an old Pennsylvania warehouse turned tragic when Titan, a police K9, plunged down a four-story elevator shaft, police say.

Titan died after falling into the unsecured open shaft, the Johnstown Police Department K9 Unit reported in a Facebook post.

Police had responded at 4:19 a.m. to reports of burglary at the warehouse and found two men hiding inside. When they learned three others were still inside, police called for Titan and his human partner, Officer Brian Stevens, to assist in the search, the post reads.

Titan, who police said died “honorably in the line of duty,” had been with the department since 2014, officers wrote on Facebook.

After rescuing Titan following his fall, police continued their search and arrested all five suspected burglars, the Facebook post says.

Officers arrested Kayla McCarty, 22, Derrick McCarty, 27, Corey McCarty, 24, and Robert McCarty, 52, all of McVeytown, and Sean Robertson, 25, of Newton Hamilton, police say.

This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 1:09 PM with the headline "K9 dies in 4-story fall down elevator shaft in pre-dawn search, Pennsylvania cops say."