Retired K-9 dog used for single purpose narcotics detection kills Colorado, Burlington Police Chief Nathan Hill’s 3 year old daughter in mystery attack.
A police chief’s 3-year-old daughter has died after she was attacked by a recently retired law enforcement K-9 named Draco at the family’s home, Colorado authorities announced.
The child was found unresponsive in the yard of the house, the Kit Carson County Sheriff’s Office said.
Officials haven’t said what led up to the attack and said the incident is still under investigation. At the time of the canine’s retirement, the dog had been used solely for ‘single detection’ narcotics purposes and was not involved in any biting.
Burlington, Colorado Police Chief’s 3 year old daughter dies after K-9 attack
The girl, who has not been publicly identified, is the daughter of Burlington Police Chief Nathan Hill, who was not home at the time of the attack, authorities said.
Deputies with the Kit Carson County Sheriff’s Office were called to respond to reports of a child being attacked by a dog Monday.
When they arrived at the home, deputies said they found a mom and her daughter, who was unresponsive, in the backyard while the dog was secured in a kennel.
The little girl was taken to a hospital in the area, where she was pronounced dead.
‘We our deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred within the city limits of Burlington, CO. Our hearts go out to Chief Nate Hill, his wife and family for the loss of their little girl, who was victim of a dog attack,’ Burlington Police Department said.
The German Shepherd was taken to the Burlington dog pound and euthanized, police said.
K-9 dog was recently retired from narcotics detection work
Draco had been a single-purpose narcotics detection K-9 for the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office, but was non-active at the time of the deadly attack, Kit Carson Sheriff Travis Beldon said.
‘He’s trained for detection. He’s not in any way trained for patrol work, apprehension, anything that would involve biting… So it is very uncharacteristic for him to attack in this fashion,’ he told KENS5.
The dog was used as recently as June 19 for a traffic stop to detect controlled substances, according to a Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office press statement.
He had recently been retired from duty after Cheyenne County discontinued its K-9 program, and was donated to the Burlington Police Department.
Hill was keeping the dog at his home at the time of the attack, police said.
Police say the Kit Carson County Sheriff’s Office will be investigating, but added that this was a ‘tragic incident and not a criminal matter.’
The attack is under investigation.
