Wounded deputy can't wait to see injured K-9 buddy

[xraodcop]

If he could only tell you, he would probably express his thanks. But excuse Donder if he's not quite the dog he used to be.

He can't sleep. He can't rest. He's probably in a bit of pain.

Donder took a bullet to the chest Tuesday during a Shingle Springs shootout that wounded three deputies -- including Donder's handler, El Dorado Sheriff's Deputy Jon Yaws, who was shot at least three times.


The deputies are being hailed as heroes -- but so, too, is Donder, a 6-year-old Belgian Tervuren who has melted hearts.

Donder was not wearing a bulletproof vest -- despite a $10,000 gift five years ago by an El Dorado Hills couple who wanted sheriff's dogs to have vests.

READ THE REST at:

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/209211.html

[Hitman2]

I pray for a speedy recovery for both of them!

[sgttom]

glad to know all four are doing well.



Three deputies shot.
The gunman is identified as a 35-year-old man; slain man was his father

An officer from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department SWAT team motions for the rest of the team to follow him to the scene of Tuesday's shooting in Shingle Springs.

Bullets flew on a rustic lane in Shingle Springs on Tuesday in a wild gunfight that left a father and son dead, three El Dorado County sheriff's deputies wounded and a police dog shot twice.

Neighbors bolted their doors and hit the floor as dozens of shots whistled through the normally quiet neighborhood of Tammy Lane, a gravel cul-de-sac off South Shingle Road.

"It was like the OK Corral," said Patricia Herrera, who fled from her artichoke patch to barricade herself inside.

Late Tuesday, the three wounded deputies were recovering in a Roseville trauma center and the injured K-9 -- 6-year-old Donder, a Belgian Tervuren -- also was expected to survive.

Authorities identified the wounded deputies as 18-year veteran Jon Yaws, 16-year veteran Greg Murphy and five-year veteran Melissa Meekma.

Yaws worked with Donder, who has been on the force two years.

Sheriff Jeff Neves will be at Sutter Roseville Hospital at 11 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the condition of the deputies and dog.

Lt. Kevin House, sheriff's spokesman, hailed the officers for putting their lives on the line for the community.

"We're just calling it heroic," House said. "Fortunately, they didn't have to pay the ultimate price, but they nearly did."

Authorities were still trying to piece together events that started about 11 a.m. with a body in a driveway and ended an hour later with the suspected gunman dead in a nearby grove, lying beside a cache of ammunition.

The man in the driveway was later identified as Arthur Mies, 72. His son, Edward Mies, 35, was the suspected gunman.

He lived in a small house on his father's property.

Investigators still were trying to determine Tuesday night whether the suspect was killed by deputies or by his own hand, although House said at least one officer thought he had shot the suspect.

Asked the likelihood that any deputy had been inadvertently struck by "friendly fire," Undersheriff Fred Kollar said that was being investigated but appeared "less and less of a possibility."

The first 911 calls came at 11:07 a.m. with reports of shots fired near Tammy Lane.

Within minutes, the first deputies arrived on the scene, found the father's body and called for backup.

A K-9 unit was dispatched, and a California Highway Patrol helicopter was en route.

At 11:23, CHP officers in the chopper spotted the suspect in a grove of pines behind the Mies house. Three deputies and the dog began closing in on him, moving through dense brush.

Twenty minutes later, they were met with a volley of gunfire. Yaws, the canine handler, was hit at least three times, the other deputies each were hit once, and the dog twice.

The Mountain Democrat, a Placerville newspaper, reported online that deputies were heard shouting on the police radio: "Stop shooting. Stop shooting. We're hit, and the dog is hit."

Dispatchers hearing the news began to sob, House said Tuesday night.

With the shooter still at large, reinforcements from agencies all over the region poured onto the scene. Officers, guns drawn and on high alert, ordered alarmed residents of the rural neighborhood to stay inside their homes.

Travis Gill, 18, who lives across the street from the Mies house, said he was watching "South Park" on television when he heard gunfire and hit the floor.

Mike Roberts, whose property abuts the Mies land, said a motorcycle officer ordered him and his wife to retreat indoors. Upon hearing shouts of "Get down! Get down!" he shuttered all their windows and locked the doors.

The tension lasted half an hour, until a report from the CHP helicopter that the suspect's motionless body was lying in a wooded area nearby.

In an attempt to rouse the man, SWAT deputies lobbed flash-bang grenades near him and released another police dog. With no response, officers moved in and determined that the suspect was dead.

They found something else, as well.

"There was a cache of ammunition right there at that location," House said. "It looked like he was trying to reload."

Tammy Lane was expected to be cordoned off overnight as technicians, trying to account for each bullet fired, combed the scene for shell casings. Investigators also will examine Mies family belongings, looking for clues to explain what led up to the violence.

Neves cut short a vacation in Hawaii to fly home Tuesday.

House, who previously supervised all three deputies, said the day's events devastated his brotherhood of 175 sworn officers. Also deeply affected was the Shingle Springs community.

"This is nothing that occurs very often," House said. "It's very shattering to a close-knit community."

At the Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where the three deputies were hospitalized after surgery Tuesday, arriving family and friends appeared hurried but composed.

They declined to be interviewed, though one man said, "Everybody's going to be just fine."

He and others carried food and bottled water; one young girl had a board game.

Jim Milne, a Placer County deputy senior chaplain assisting families at the hospital, said they were flooded with relief upon receiving word that the deputies would survive.

"When you're fearing the worst, but you find out that they're alive, it's a great day," Milne said.

[willowdared]

Good boy Donder!

Our department lost a K9 to gunfire a couple years ago....his loss was felt by all.

Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery for all.

And cyber greenies for Donder.

[Fëanor]

Donder was not wearing a bulletproof vest -- despite a $10,000 gift five years ago by an El Dorado Hills couple who wanted sheriff's dogs to have vests.

Any more details on why the money was not spent on vests for the dogs?

Sorry if this was covered in the article sgttom posted, but I was literally getting a headache trying to read through that. The way every sentence is a new paragraph is ridiculous.

[Bing_Oh]

Any more details on why the money was not spent on vests for the dogs?

Sorry if this was covered in the article sgttom posted, but I was literally getting a headache trying to read through that. The way every sentence is a new paragraph is ridiculous.

Donder was not wearing a bulletproof vest -- despite a $10,000 gift five years ago by an El Dorado Hills couple who wanted sheriff's dogs to have vests.

"They didn't use it yesterday, and I'm upset about it," said Judi Hill, who donated the money with her husband, Ken Hill.

"If it had been my dog, especially if there was gunfire, I would have taken the time to put the vest on -- but I guess I wasn't there," said Hill.

Depending on the situation, sometimes handlers don't use the K9 vests provided. They limit mobility and are hot and uncomfortable for the dog, so they don't tend to have the K9 wear it during the entire shift, only putting it on when needed.

[Fëanor]

Depending on the situation, sometimes handlers don't use the K9 vests provided. They limit mobility and are hot and uncomfortable for the dog, so they don't tend to have the K9 wear it during the entire shift, only putting it on when needed.

Ah, makes sense.

Thank you for sorting through that disaster of an article, I couldn't stand it.