Portland Police K9 Kylo killed during officer-involved shooting honored with procession
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – It was a heartbreaking loss for the Portland Police Bureau as K-9 “Kylo” was killed in the line of duty, on what was scheduled to be his very last shift. He died from his injuries in an officer-involved shooting.
A somber salute was given from Portland Police as they said goodbye to one of their own.
“I mean, let’s face it, we love our animals and as a pet owner, you know, we really value that relationship but I will tell you the relationship between a K9 officer and the K9 dog is significant,” said PPB Chief Bob Day.
Kylo served the Portland community for six years. He was hurt Thursday afternoon during an officer-involved shooting near Southeast 97th and Oak street. Investigators said multiple agencies confronted a wanted suspect before gunfire erupted. The suspect died at the scene and Kylo was rushed to two emergency veterinary offices, but could not be saved.
“When I learned that this was Kylo’s last day of service, I felt like that made this even more of a sad situation. K9’s play such an important role in police work, and I’m sure that the handler and Kylo had a close relationship,” said Oregon Humane’s Laura Klink.
For Chief Bob Day, it brings back painful memories of 2014, when PPB lost K-9 Mick.
“You know, they spend probably more time together one-on-one than either one of them spend with anyone else. You know, and to watch them work is really a thing of beauty and to see them step up and take the risk on our behalf, this isn’t the first one we’ve lost. I was the incident commander when we lost Mick about 10 or 11 years ago, they’re a part of our family. They’re a part of our family,” said Day.
An end-of-watch procession honored Kylo outside Oregon Humane, saluting six years of dedicated service to the city.
“We know how much of valued member of their team he was, and a day like today is very sad for Portland Police, we saw it today with the huge procession, and support for Portland Police and I think that says a lot about Kylo’s work over the years and what a value he was to the community,” said Klink.