SEATTLE—
"It was behind his left ear..you can feel a knot there..that's just scar tissue but other than that, he's doing great." Tukwila Officer Jamie Sturgill describes the wounds his K-9 partner, Gino, suffered in a stabbing on June 15th.Gino is recovering and his hair is growing back after being stabbed by a shoplifting suspect last month. Gino was attacked after subduing the man.
Officer Sturgill remembers, "As soon as Gino released him, the suspect got up to his knees, pulled a knife out of somewhere and stabbed Gino somewhere in the neck.
"I looked down and I saw all the blood coming out of his neck and I realized that he was obviously severely wounded." says Officer Sturgill.
Gino was taken to the vet immediately. He spent several weeks recovering from the attack and now he's back on duty again.
"He's just like any other pet when he's at home..he's as loving as he is caring..and everybody really adores him and to see this happen to him it was really like having a part of your family being injured in a horrific way." says Officer Sturgill.
The two and half year old giant sable German Shepherd is now back at helping track down bad guys. The stabbing suspect was his 13th capture since January.
Commander Dennis McComber says, "Clearly Gino put himself in the line of danger and was injured. It could easily have been any one of the other officers but Gino was there and because he was there, everything turned out well and we're happy that he's recovered."
Gino is the first officer injured in the line of duty to receive this prestigious award. He's also the first canine to be honored.
Congratulations Gino!
