Wounded Vacaville K-9 Officer Murph lost a leg to amputation Wednesday night at UC Davis Veterinary Hospital, police officials confirmed in an update Thursday afternoon.
Lt. Chris Lechuga, the department’s public information officer, told The Reporter a veterinarian amputated the dog’s left leg during an 8 p.m. surgery at the campus hospital.
K-9 Murph, a 4-year-old male Belgian Malinois, returned to his handler’s home Thursday afternoon and is resting, said Lechuga.
As previously reported, K-9 Murph was shot while attempting to apprehend a suspect on Wednesday.
Officers had responded to the 300 block of Regency Circle around 1:30 p.m. after a man, later identified as Darren Ronald Crail, called 911 and made threats to shoot people.
Police interactions with Crail actually began Tuesday, said Lechuga, who is also a patrol watch commander. He had called police dispatch initially threatening to do harm to himself. Officers contacted Crail, 52, who declined all resources and various services offered to him, Lechuga added.
The incident escalated after Crail called a department dispatcher, threatening to shoot members of the community. Police SWAT and crisis negotiators responded to the residence and attempted to get Crail to leave the home peacefully, Lechuga said.
K-9 Murph responded to the residence with his handler and several announcements were made to have Crail exit his home. Lechuga said that, when Crail finally exited the front door, he was armed with a rifle and refused to surrender peacefully.
K-9 Murph attempted to take Crail into custody, and Crail fired at least one rifle round, striking the dog in the leg. Officers rushed the dog to the UC Davis emergency veterinary hospital, where Murph underwent the amputation.
Lechuga couldn’t remember a time in his 17 years with the department that a K-9 officer was shot in Vacaville. He praised Murph for dedicated service to the department and city, where he has served for the past three years.
“He’s a member of our police family and we are certainly proud of the courage he demonstrated under these circumstances,” Lechuga said. “We are devastated that one of our officers was wounded in this terrible circumstance. We will do all we can to support both him and his handler.”
He asked the community to keep Murph and his handler in their thoughts.
Crail was arrested on suspicion of a number of charges. He sustained minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital before being booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of harming a police dog, negligent discharge of a firearm, illegal possession of an assault weapon, carrying a loaded handgun not his own, making criminal threats and resisting arrest, all felonies. Crail is also suspected of making annoying calls to 911, a misdemeanor.
According to jail booking record, Crail is being held on $58,333 bail and is set to appear in Solano County Superior Court for jail arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Fairfield.
At press time late Thursday afternoon, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office had yet to file a criminal complaint against Crail but is expected to do so by Friday afternoon.