Body camera video released after Lake Wales police K-9 murdered by ‘violent suspect’

LAKE WALES, Fla. (WFLA) — The Lake Wales Police Department released the body camera video months after a K-9 was murdered by a “violent suspect.”

Officers said the incident began around 5 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2022, when a woman called 911 to report that a man dragged her out of a car, choked her, hit her head on the concrete, and fired a gun multiple times outside her apartment.

Police said K-9 Max eventually found 57-year-old Earnest Borders hiding in a densely wooded area.

Borders refused to show his hands and shot and killed K-9 Max with a stolen Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun, according to Lake Wales police.

The officers fired back at Borders. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Lake Wales police said K-9 Max’s necropsy determined that he died of one gunshot wound, which was fired from Border’s stolen handgun.

The shooting was investigated by four different agencies: The Lake Wales Police Department, The Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office and the 10th District Medical Examiner.

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