A police canine with only a few months on the job in New Castle County, Del., is being lauded as a hero after being wounded yesterday in the line of duty.
Diablo, a Belgian Malinois trained as a narcotics and patrol dog, was shot at the Chateau Orleans apartments in Wilmington shortly before 1 a.m.
Police responded to the apartments in search of a man who allegedly had made several threats against an ex-girlfriend, said Cpl. Trinidad Navarro, a police spokesman.
The suspect fired at Diablo and at officers, and Diablo was struck in the left hind leg and left shoulder, Navarro said.
Even after getting shot, Diablo locked his jaws on the suspect to help subdue the suspect, Navarro said.
The suspect, identified as Eric Weit, 34, of Wilmington, fired a weapon several times but no officers were injured, Navarro said.
Once Weit was subdued, Diablo was called back to his handler and collapsed.
"The handler picked up Diablo and rushed him to a local animal hospital, where he was stabilized," Navarro said.
He then was transferred with a police escort to the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary hospital for surgery, Navarro added.
David Holt, a surgeon familiar with Diablo's case, said the surgery was to repair a tibia shattered by the bullet.
"He was quite lucky in the way that neither of the bullets penetrated" vital organs, Holt said.
After Diablo's surgery last night, doctors were optimistic about his recovery.
During surgery, they inserted a metal plate in his leg because he lost a lot of bone, said Dr. Elaine Holmes.
Holmes said Diablo's chances of healing were good but could not say if he would return to duty.
"We believe that [Diablo's] actions may have saved the lives of these officers," Navarro said.
Weit faces charges of felony assault, recklessly endangering another person, weapons offenses and related charges, police said.
He was in surgery last night at Christiana Hospital, but no information was available on his condition.
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