A Mass State Police K9 was shot and killed at a standoff in Fitchburg Tuesday afternoon, a “heartbreaking” loss as Frankie turned the primary MSP canine to be killed within the line of responsibility.
Frankie, a 10-year-old Belgian Malinois who was a member of Mass State Police for 9 years, was fatally shot whereas making an attempt to apprehend a needed fugitive who had barricaded himself inside a residence. Frankie’s handler, Trooper David Stucenski, was not bodily injured.
“His sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Col. Christopher Mason mentioned at a press convention whereas saying Frankie’s demise. “Frankie had each trait we search in a superb regulation enforcement officer, canine or human: Intelligence, immense braveness, and dedication to defending the general public. He was as loyal a accomplice as any Trooper ever had.
“He was a beloved member of the Massachusetts State Police family and the Stucenski family,” Mason added. “He was, as much as any human of the member of the Department, one of us and part of us.”
The fugitive suspect — Matthew Mack, 38 — later died after apparently taking pictures himself contained in the three-story, multi-family home at 40 Oliver St.
Mack was needed on warrants charging him with firearms offenses and accent after the actual fact stemming from a taking pictures incident in Fitchburg final week.
When troopers made verbal contact with Mack, he refused to exit the home. Negotiators had a number of conversations with Mack, in addition to with members of his household, in an try to steer him to give up peacefully.
Then at about 2:48 p.m., Mack was seen at a rear exit of the home, and police tried to apprehend him. Frankie and his handler approached the rear, and Mack fired a number of photographs, putting the K9.
Troopers picked up Frankie, and evacuated him from the scene to an ambulance. He was transported to Wachusett Animal Hospital in Westminster, the place he was pronounced lifeless. The ambulance transport was the primary occasion of such emergency care made doable by Nero’s Law.
Frankie was a extremely embellished member of the Massachusetts State Police. In 2017, he and Stucenski have been awarded the Medal of Valor on the state’s annual George L. Hanna Awards for Bravery, the state’s high regulation enforcement award ceremony.
They have been honored for apprehending a hit-and-run suspect who, throughout a foot chase, turned and fired a shot at Stucenski and Frankie as they pursued him on a Springfield avenue. The shot missed the trooper and Frankie, and Frankie apprehended him. Stucenski and Frankie gained the State Police Medal of Merit for that very same incident.
In 2014, Stucenski and Frankie gained three awards from the U.S. Police Canine Association for proof restoration, agility, and different regulation enforcement abilities.
Just final month, MSP honored Stucenski and Frankie and different members of the Special Tactical Operations Team for apprehending an armed little one pornography suspect who had opened hearth on them once they went to arrest him at a West Springfield motel in 2019.
“Today we mourn the killing of our coworker, friend, and fellow member of the Massachusetts State Police,” State Police Association of Massachusetts wrote. “We ask for privacy and respect for K-9 Frankie, his handler, family, and those who knew him during this heartbreaking time. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the first responders and medical staff who tried their hardest to save K-9 Frankie’s life.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”