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Saginaw Police Kill Suspect Who Stabbed K9 In The Head

SAGINAW, Mich. (CNN) - A 48-year-old man has died and a K9 Officer is stabbed.

It happened around 8 a.m. Sunday when police were responding to a call for neighbor trouble in the 600 block of Sheridan.

Within 15 minutes, that evolved into a domestic situation and then into a hostage situation.

The officers rescued the hostage from the home without injury, but it wasn't over.

"There was an incident that occurred further in the home where the suspect was armed with a knife, and one of our K9, 'Deebo' was stabbed in the head this morning with a knife," said Chief Bob Ruth.

Deebo was a 5-year-old German Shepard, who Ruth views as a valuable part of his department.

At that point in time, the officers opened fire, killing the 48-year-old suspect from Saginaw.

When incidents involve a shooting like this one, the protocol is to place involved officers on administrative leave.

This investigation is now turned over to Michigan State Police.

As for Deebo, who's been with the department for three or four years, was treated at a local veterinary hospital.

"If you injure one of our K9s, it's just like injuring a police officer. He helps protect our officers. He helps to assist our officers at crime scenes, taking suspects into custody. Extremely good tracking dog. Very good with narcotics, and he's here to protect the officers, and essentially, that's what he does, and that's what he was doing this morning," said Ruth.

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