Minnesota officer wounded and K-9 killed during a shoot-out with a suspect

Police released the identities of the injured officer and his K-9 partner that died during a shooting at home on Skyline Parkway.

On the evening of January 13, officer Aaron Haller along with his K-9 Haas from the Duluth Police Department got a report of a domestic assault with a weapon and went to investigate when the shooting took place.

Four year veteran with the department, Duluth Police identified the injured officer as Aaron Haller, K-9 handler to Haas for the last two years. Aaron has since been released from the hospital, but Haas, unfortunately, didn’t make it.

The incident took place on the 1000 block of Skyline Parkway, where officers that responded developed probable cause for a felony level domestic assault, and entered the residence.

Once the male suspect got located inside the home, officers attempted to negotiate for his arrest. After about an hour of negotiations, the male suspect fired at police, the bullet only wounded Haller but killed Haas, while another officer returned fire.

Sgt. Kelly Greenwalt, from the Duluth Police Department, said:

"It's difficult when you have a loss like this. Even though it's an animal, we still get very attached to that animal. We train for this kind of thing, and when you train for this type of thing, it kind of forces you to mentally prepare for what if it really happens.”

Police then gained access to the room where the suspect was located and found him dead. The identity of the suspect is still unknown. The other person involved in the case was said to be in a relationship with the deceased suspect and is uninjured.

Mike Tusken, Duluth Police Chief posted a message on Facebook regarding the loss of one of their own, K-9 Haas and wrote:

"As a community, let’s put our arms around and show our support for Officer Aaron Haller, his dedicated K9 partner Haas, and our DPD family to find peace in the days ahead. Officer Haller is home resting with family and Haas will forever Rest In Peace as a hero who gave the ultimate sacrifice keeping his police officer partners safe."

On the same day over in Birmingham officers questioned two people in connection with an attempted break-in when things went south.

Sgt. Wytasha Carter, 44, was fatally shot while another got critically wounded during the shooting and was a member of the department since 2011.

The identities of the wounded officer and the suspects have not been released.

Sadly in another shooting that took place on Christmas Eve, another K-9 named Cigo got shot and killed. Officers tried to serve two suspects with warrants when the suspects opened fire by The Mall at Wellington Green’s food court.

The police that train and serve to protect us put themselves in harm’s way every day. Condolences to the families of all the officers who died while serving their fellow countrymen.

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