Morgan County K-9 Bullet back on job after line-of-duty injury

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Mar 3, 2026

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — A Morgan County Sheriff’s Office K-9 who was seriously injured in the line of duty is officially back on the job.

K-9 Bullet returned to active duty in early February, after months of recovery from injuries he suffered during an incident in Martinsville late last year.According to the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Bullet and his handler, Deputy David Tolan, were called to a home for a reported break-in on Belt Lane on Dec. 8, 2025.

“When Bullet got on scene, his responsibility was to try to de-escalate the situation,” Tolan said.

The suspect, identified as Felix Juarez-Antunez, reportedly refused to comply with deputies’ commands, which is when the K-9 was sent in.

When he ran up to do his job, Tolan said “the suspect brandished a blunt object and then at that point he hit him in the back… Bullet did bite him once, and then he got hit right on the head, which knocked him out instantly.”

That blunt object used to hit the K-9 turned out to be a set of four-foot-long tree loppers. The multiple hits left Bullet so lifeless his handler feared he was dead.

“When we ran up, I didn’t think he was alive. The suspect was still beating him… and so running up, he was unconscious.” Tolan continued. “He is another law enforcement officer to us, so hitting him is like, I would say, hitting one of us.”

Deputies stopped the threat by shooting Juarez-Antunez. They then provided medical aid to him before he was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for medical treatment.

At this point, Tolan realized his partner was still breathing.

Bullet was rushed to MedVet in Indianapolis to be treated for his injuries.

“He had fractured one of the bones of his skull that was associated with his frontal sinus. Luckily, the fracture was fairly mild. It wasn’t displaced. It didn’t require surgical repair. It just required rest for several weeks,” said Matt Lemmons, the veterinarian who treated Bullet.