According to a public information release from Sgt Wayne Delk of the Cobb County Police Department, the department is investigating the death of a Cobb County Police K9 that occurred yesterday.

The incident was at Allatoona High School in Acworth on Monday, June 5, 2023, just after 2 p.m.

The public information release described the incident as possible:

“Officers were attending scheduled active shooter training at the school when K9 Chase was found unresponsive in the patrol vehicle by K9 Officer Neill. Life-saving measures were started by Officer Neill, other Cobb Officers, and Cobb County Fire personnel (also attending the active shooter training); K9 Chase was then transported to a nearby emergency veterinarian clinic. But the efforts were not enough to save him, and he succumbed to his heat-related injuries.

“Officers had been at training since 11 a.m. and had been checking on their K9 partners on the hour for 15-minute breaks between each 45-minute training session. At some point after the previous check, the air conditioning system malfunctioned in Officer Neill’s patrol vehicle. Preliminary information indicates that other safety systems did not properly activate and the temperature quickly rose in the vehicle.

“This is a horrible incident and our investigators are continuing to gather information regarding the vehicle system failures that led to this tragedy. K9 Chase is currently at Cobb County Animal Shelter and will be transported to the University of Georgia for a necropsy later today.”

About the Cobb police K9 Unit

The Cobb County Police Department web page on Special Operations Units describes the K9 Unit as follows:

“The K-9 Unit’s mission is to support the precincts, special operations and investigative units of the Cobb County Police Department.

“The unit currently has nine K-9 teams consisting of three breeds; Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds and a Dutch Shepherd.

“Six of these K-9 teams are capable of narcotics detection, evidence recovery and tracking. There are three teams dedicated to explosive detection.

“The narcotics/patrol teams are certified nationally through the North American Police Work Dog Association and the National Narcotics Detector Dog Association.

“The explosive K-9 teams are certified through and members of the Georgia Emergency Management Explosive Detection Dog Program.

“In addition to patrol and investigative functions the unit conducts numerous demonstrations for the public throughout the year.”