Police officer fatally shoots his own K-9 after attack, Massachusetts cops say

A Massachusetts police officer attacked by his own K-9 partner fatally shot the dog Tuesday morning, authorities say.

Police say Officer Keith Larson, a 17-year veteran of the Plymouth police department, was forced to shoot Nico, a German shepherd, about 9:20 a.m., WBZ reported.

“As I’m sure you realize, it’s extremely difficult for a K-9 officer to dispatch their own dog like that,” said Police Chief Michael Botieri, according to the station.

The K-9 was preparing to search for a suspect when it attacked its handler in a Plymouth parking lot, WXFT reported.

The dog “became confused,” a WXFT reporter wrote on Twitter. The officer tried to regain control of the K-9 but could not.

The officer then shot and killed the dog to halt the attack, WCVB reported. He was taken to a hospital with “injuries to his arms and hands.”

Nico had also bitten Larson on the hand in April and underwent retraining, WZB reported. Larson had been working with Nico since August 2019.

In 2019, Plymouth police lost K-9 Felix, a 4-year-old German shepherd, who retired and died of an aggressive form of cancer, a news release from the department says.

This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Police officer fatally shoots his own K-9 after attack, Massachusetts cops say."