HOMESTEAD
Shootout injures burglary suspect, police dog
Homestead police and burglary suspects exchanged gunfire in an early-morning altercation, with a police dog and one of the suspects wounded.
BY ADAM H. BEASLEY AND TIM CHAPMAN
abeasley@MiamiHerald.com
Northwest Homestead was jumping with police activity early Monday after a botched burglary led to a shootout between the alleged thieves and cops.
Struck by bullets: one of the suspects and Bart, a 5-year-old German shepherd.
Both dog and man survived.
The second suspect escaped -- temporarily.
About 10 a.m., Bono, a 17-month-old Belgian Malinois working for Florida Highway Patrol, discovered him hiding out in a plastic shed in the 900 block of Northwest 10th Avenue, police said.
''It was [Bono's] first search ever, looking for a suspect during a manhunt,'' said Lt. Pat Santangelo, an FHP spokesman.
Bart suffered minor injuries when a bullet grazed his leg.
Doctors at Homestead Animal Hospital treated and released him Monday morning.
''The bullet grazed his tibia, but there were no significant fractures,'' said Dr. Arthur Green, the veterinarian who treated the dog.
``It looked a lot worse than it actually was.''
According to police and witness accounts, here's how the morning unfolded:
Police got a call of a burglary in progress in Northwest Homestead about 3 a.m.
Officers, with the K-9 unit, arrived and at some point came across at least one of the suspects.
After the two sides exchanged gunfire, one of the suspects was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center with multiple gunshot wounds.
The other suspect had vanished, sparking a huge, multi-agency search, which included police dogs and helicopters.
The manhunt temporarily shut down two nearby schools: Redondo Elementary and Homestead Middle. Students of both schools were diverted: Redondo to West Homestead Elementary and Homestead Middle to Campbell Drive Middle. The students returned to their schools after the lockdown was lifted.
Midmorning, Bono and his handler, Trooper Tom Winders, were searching the 900 block of Northwest 10th Avenue. Something caught Bono's attention, and a moment later, they both had jumped a fence and were in front of a shed between two homes.
The suspect was inside the shed and surrendered peacefully.
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