The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has announced the passing of one of their K-9 units after an investigation in Lamont.

The full release can be seen below:

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is extremely saddened to announce the death of a Sheriff’s Office K-9.

On August 18, 2022, at approximately 11:10 a.m.,, deputies from the Lamont Substation were dispatched to a reported shooting that had just occurred in the area of Panama Road and Habecker Road in Lamont.  The reporting party advised a subject had been shot and was injured.  When deputies arrived, they conducted a search of the area with the assistance of a Sheriff’s Office K-9 and the  Air Support Unit.

During the search two male subjects were seen running into a grape vineyard from the location of the reported shooting.  Deputies set up a perimeter and began to search for the subjects who fled into the vineyard.  The Deputy and his K-9 partner searched for approximately 10 to 15 minutes and located one of the male subjects.  The subject refused  to follow commands and continued running away.  That subject was eventually taken into custody.  The K-9 was not used in the apprehension of the subject.

Shortly after the conclusion of the search, the K-9 began showing signs of distress.  The K-9 handler immediately returned to his vehicle and the K-9 was rushed to a local emergency animal hospital where he later passed away.  The K-9 was a Belgian Malinois born on October 16, 2019, and assigned to his handler in March of 2021.

The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances that led to the K-9 passing away including a necropsy to determine the cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.

Deputies were unable to locate a victim of a shooting.