A police dog and a carjacking suspect are dead after a police chase ended in a crash and shootout in Illinois.
Hudson, a six-year K9 veteran with the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, was killed in the line of duty Wednesday while assisting in the apprehension of a wanted man in suburban Geneva, a city about 45 miles east of Chicago.
Named after a fallen Illinois State Trooper, the office said, Hudson was assigned to the department’s narcotics detection unit.
Moving video provided by the department shows dozens of uniformed deputies, some standing beside their K9 partners and fellow colleagues, lined up facing one another along a street as a police SUV transports the body of Hudson on his final approach to the sheriff’s office.
Amidst the silence in the footage, several police dogs are heard whimpering as the white Chevrolet Tahoe slowly passes by the group.
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“This is a big loss for us, but he’s an absolute hero today, along with our deputies who brought this to a successful close without injury to any innocent civilians,” Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain said during a Wednesday news conference. “He’s been a loyal servant to the sheriff’s office.”
A carjacking, a police chase and a shootout
Hudson, along with an unidentified carjacking suspect, were both fatally shot following a police pursuit that began just before 2 p.m. when deputies received information about a carjacking in Aurora, about 10 miles south of Geneva.
The suspect shot the dog and police opened fire on the suspect, authorities said.
Hain said a deputy located the vehicle − a stolen gray Honda Accord − in South Elgin, about 18 miles north of Aurora.
A traffic stop of the vehicle was initialed, Hain said, but the driver refused to stop and deputies initiated a pursuit that ended in South Elgin with a crash.
“The offender exited the vehicle and presented a handgun at the same time one of our police canines was deployed − the offender was in an active struggle with him,” Hain said. “As he presented a handgun, deputies returned fire in his direction.”
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Hudson died at the scene, officials said, and the suspect was taken to a hospital where he later died.
As of Thursday, the sheriff’s office had not yet released the name of the carjacking suspect.
The sheriff could not immediately be reached by USA TODAY.
No other officers were struck by gunfire or physically injured, the office said.
Contributing: Associated Press.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
