K-9 dies of heat stroke after air conditioning malfunctions in police car, authorities say

ATLANTA (WGCL/Gray News) - Authorities in Georgia say a police dog died of heat stroke during a training exercise this week.

According to the Cobb County Police Department, a K-9 named Chase died on Monday while officers were holding an active shooter training exercise at an area high school.

His handler, Officer Neill, attempted life-saving measures, according to the department, but Chase died of heat-related injuries.

Police said officers were training that afternoon while Chase was in a police vehicle with the air conditioning on, but the system malfunctioned.

“At some point after a previous check, the air conditioning system malfunctioned in Officer Neill’s patrol vehicle,” the department said.

Officials shared that their preliminary investigation found that safety systems did not properly activate, and the temperature quickly rose in the vehicle.

“This is a horrible incident, and our investigators are continuing to gather information regarding the vehicle system failures that led to this tragedy,” the police department said.

Chase was a Belgian Malinois born in Hungary in August 2018. He began his career with the department in April 2020 with Officer Neill.

Authorities said K-9 Chase was trained for narcotics detection, criminal apprehension, tracking, building searches and evidence recovery.

The police dog was named for fallen police officer Chase Maddox, who died in the line of duty on Feb. 9, 2018.

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