Ronja

Incident

K9 Ronja was shot and killed while tracking a murder suspect in the 3600 block of South M Street at about 1:30 am.

Another officer had spotted the man in a vehicle and recognized him as being wanted in connection to a murder that had occurred the previous night. The subject led officers on a vehicle pursuit until crashing and bailing out on foot. K9 Ronja and her handler arrived at the scene and began a track for the subject. The man opened fire on officers when he was located in the 3600 block of M Street and struck K9 Ronja.

K9 Ronja was taken to a veterinary hospital where she died later in the morning.

One of the officers on the scene returned fire and wounded the subject, who was taken into custody. The subject, a convicted felon, was found guilty of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault, and harming a police dog. He was sentenced to more than 64 years in prison.

K9 Ronja had served with the Tacoma Police Department for only eight months.