Portland Police K9 Kylo killed during officer-involved shooting honored with procession

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - It was a heartbreaking loss for the Portland Police Bureau as K-9 “Kylo” was killed in the line of duty, on what was scheduled to be his very last shift. He died from his injuries in an officer-involved shooting.

A somber salute was given from Portland Police as they said goodbye to one of their own.

“I mean, let’s face it, we love our animals and as a pet owner, you know, we really value that relationship but I will tell you the relationship between a K9 officer and the K9 dog is significant,” said PPB Chief Bob Day.

Kylo served the Portland community for six years. He was hurt Thursday afternoon during an officer-involved shooting near Southeast 97th and Oak street. Investigators said multiple agencies confronted a wanted suspect before gunfire erupted. The suspect died at the scene and Kylo was rushed to two emergency veterinary offices, but could not be saved.

“When I learned that this was Kylo’s last day of service, I felt like that made this even more of a sad situation. K9’s play such an important role in police work, and I’m sure that the handler and Kylo had a close relationship,” said Oregon Humane’s Laura Klink.

For Chief Bob Day, it brings back painful memories of 2014, when PPB lost K-9 Mick.

“You know, they spend probably more time together one-on-one than either one of them spend with anyone else. You know, and to watch them work is really a thing of beauty and to see them step up and take the risk on our behalf, this isn’t the first one we’ve lost. I was the incident commander when we lost Mick about 10 or 11 years ago, they’re a part of our family. They’re a part of our family,” said Day.

An end-of-watch procession honored Kylo outside Oregon Humane, saluting six years of dedicated service to the city.

“We know how much of valued member of their team he was, and a day like today is very sad for Portland Police, we saw it today with the huge procession, and support for Portland Police and I think that says a lot about Kylo’s work over the years and what a value he was to the community,” said Klink.

There is an Animal Crimes Forensic Center at the Oregon Humane and they will be using evidence recovered and working with police as the investigation into the shooting continues.