Cochise County Sheriff's Office is investigating an officer-involved shooting that happened earlier this week in Tombstone.
The Office says on Tuesday, November 19, Cochise County Sheriffs were notified of an issue on the second floor of the Tombstone Marshal's office.
A number of units responded and found Deputy Marshal John Cody in an upstairs bathroom with his K-9 partner dead outside the door.
The investigation has revealed that Deputy Marshal Cody was working with his K-9 partner Hawk on the night shift when Hawk attacked Cody. According to the Deputy Marshal, his K-9 latched onto his leg and would not let go, which caused serious injury. Deputy Marshal Cody managed to get into the bathroom and tried to close the door to get the K-9 off of him but Hawk would not release and continued to be aggressive. That led Deputy Marshal Cody to shoot at Hawk, killing him.
Deputy Marshal Cody was airlifted to a Tucson hospital to be treated for his leg. He has since been released and returned home. His K-9 partner's body was taken to a facility to be examined.
The investigation is ongoing and the Cochise County Sheriff's Office is enlisting the help of experts from Tucson to aid in assessing the incident. Meanwhile Deputy Marshal Cody remains off-duty on medical leave.
In a press release, Marshal Jim Adams is quoted to say, "We value out K-9 program and handlers and we are confident a thorough and objective evaluation of this unfortunate incident will be completed by the Sheriff's Office."
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
- Download our free app for Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, Alexa, and mobile devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
