A police chief’s 3-year-old daughter has died after she was attacked by a law enforcement K-9 named Draco at the family’s home, authorities in Colorado said.
The child was found unresponsive in the yard of the house, the Kit Carson County Sheriff’s Office said.
Officials haven’t said what may have led up to the attack and said the incident is still under investigation.
The girl, who has not been publicly identified, is the daughter of Burlington Police Chief Nathan Hill, who was not home at the time of the attack, authorities have confirmed.
“We our deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred within the city limits of Burlington, CO. Our hearts go out to Chief Nate Hill, his wife and family for the loss of their little girl, who was victim of a dog attack,” Burlington Police Department said.
Emergency medical personnel rushed the child to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The German Shepherd was taken to the Burlington dog pound and euthanized, police said.
Draco had been a single-purpose narcotics detection K-9 for the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office, but was non-active at the time of the deadly attack, Kit Carson Sheriff Travis Beldon said.
“He’s trained for detection. He’s not in any way trained for patrol work, apprehension, anything that would involve biting… So it is very uncharacteristic for him to attack in this fashion,” he told KENS5.
The dog was used as recently as June 19 for a traffic stop to detect controlled substances, according to a Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office press statement.
He had recently been retired from duty after Cheyenne County discontinued its K-9 program, and was donated to the Burlington Police Department.
Hill was keeping the dog at his home at the time of the attack, police said.
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