He was responsible for helping catch dozens of suspects during his career, which included more than 100 deployments, according to the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office.
Late Wednesday, K-9 Titan killed doing the same thing he was well-trained to do: Stop a suspect.
When driver Jason Andre Wilson refused to pull over, Coweta Deputy Blaize Henderson performed a PIT maneuver — or Precision Immobilization Technique — on the Chrysler 300. After Henderson and Titan exited the patrol car, Wilson opened fire, hitting both Henderson and Titan. Both were struck multiple times, according to the sheriff’s office and GBI investigators.
Henderson, who suffered graze wounds, returned fire. Wilson was killed.
Titan, a Belgian Malinois, also died at the scene.
Titan was the first police K-9 to die in the line of duty this year in Georgia, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks law enforcement deaths. He became the 19th police dog nationwide killed while on the job, and the seventh shot to death. In 2023, five K-9s in Georgia died while working, the ODMP site states.
“K-9 Titan has served the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office for over five years,” the sheriff’s office said in a media statement Thursday. “During his time, Titan has successfully located several missing persons, successfully identified illegal narcotics as well as assisted in the successful apprehension of multiple offenders.”
In August, Titan was reassigned from a previous handler to Henderson, and the two quickly went to work, training for more than 480 hours. The pair graduated Nov. 1 from Basic Dual Handler Training Course, the sheriff’s office said.
Coweta deputy Eric Minix, 31, died Jan. 4 after being hit by an Alabama police officer’s patrol car as he stepped out of his vehicle at the end of a chase, according to investigators.
Minix had also been a former K-9 handler. At his funeral, two four-legged friends, Bruno and Robbi, were the first to say goodbye when they were led to the flag-draped casket of their former handler.
Now while the GBI investigates the shooting injured Henderson, the sheriff’s office is planning a funeral for Titan. The department’s Facebook page was filled with comments from the community Thursday, thanking the police dog for his service.
“K-9 Titan, you will be missed,” one person wrote. “Thank you for protecting your owner and going above and beyond in your service. Watch over your owner as he will be grieving over the loss of you. Also, thank you for your service Deputy. Thank you for protecting us. We will be praying for a quick healing.”
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