A Portland police K-9 named Kylo was shot and killed Thursday on his last shift before retirement while pursuing a murder suspect — another casualty in a city that has spent years systematically hollow Portland Police Bureau.
Kylo, a six-year veteran of the bureau, was rushed to a veterinary medical center after gunfire erupted near the Chestnut Tree Inn, where officers and the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force were trying to take a murder suspect into custody. He didn survived. The suspect was also hit and died at the scene despite life-saving efforts, according to the New York Post.
The chain of events started earlier in the day, when police in neighboring Gresham found a dead body in a home. "Detectives determined the victim died by homicidal violence and identified," the Gresham Police Department said in a statement. A manhunt followed, the suspect ran, and the shootout that claimed Kylo's life followed.
Two Portland officers and two personnel from other agencies were involved in the shooting and are now on paid leave. The Portland Police Bureau will lead the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
A police procession carried Kylo's body from the vet to the Oregon Humane Society's Animal Crimes Forensic Center. "K9 Kylo was a true protector of the peace," the department wrote. "We ask our community to keep the officers and professional staff of the Portland Police Bureau in your thoughts as they honor K9 Kylo's legacy and sacrifice."
Kylo is the second police dog to die in the area this week. A Gresham Police Department K-9 named Leni died unexpectedly on Monday.
The contrast is hard to ignore. More than 2,500 miles away in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the police department this week celebrated the peaceful retirement of two longtime K-9s — Chapo and Harley — who will live out their days with their handlers. Chapo helped seize over $115,000 in cash and significant quantities of narcotics. Harley tracked two missing children with autism, ages 8 and 10, and helped locate suspects tied to armed robberies and domestic violence. Live 5 News covered the ceremony. No gunfire. No processions to a forensic center.
Portland's political class spent years demonizing police, defunding units, and installing prosecutors who treat criminals as victims and cops as the problem. The city's homicide rate surged. Officers left in droves. Now a dog working its final shift dies chasing a murder suspect in a city that made the chase harder than it ever needed to be.
The question isn't whether Kylo was a good dog. Everyone agrees on that. The question is how many more — officers and animals alike — have to pay the price for policies that protect the violent and punish the people who stand between them and the rest of us.
