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.