COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is welcoming back fellow K-9 after an incident that left him injured.
“The suspect had a stolen car, we were chasing him, they jumped out with guns and as I sent the dog on him to apprehend him because of the guns being an issue the suspect turned around and began shooting at us,” K-9 specialist Bryan Hodge said.
On the night of March 14, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said deputies were initially called to the 500 block of Deerwood Street near Rosewood Drive and South Beltline Boulevard around midnight to reports of a stolen truck that had a pistol in it. Two K-9 officers noticed the vehicle a couple of hours later, and a short chase followed. He said it ended with the suspects getting out of the vehicle and one of them, a 17-year-old, opening fire on deputies and shooting K-9 Kobe multiple times.
“Luckily, Kobe was able to get hit in the paws and not anywhere else, but without him getting hit, he probably would’ve shot me,” Hodge said.
According to Sheriff Lott, Kobe went through training to regain his strength.
“Can you imagine a dog as active as Kobe is now restricted with cast on the legs and a cone around the head. they survived it. Kobe went through water therapy to get the strength back and the doctors approved and okay for Kobe to go back to work,” Lott said.
The sheriff’s department is now welcoming back the 4-year-old Belgian malinois.
“His biggest thing is tracking; that’s probably what he’s best at, it’s what he likes to do the most," Hodge said. "The second you put the tracking light on him he’s already coming out of the car looking for it. That’s his favorite thing.”
As of Friday, Kobe is back on the job.
“Kobe took a bullet for Deputy Hodge and that’s what these dogs are trained to do is to go out here and protect not only their handler but the citizens of Richland county and Kobe is one of the best that we’ve got,” Lott said.