Georgia K-9 returns to work 3 months after being shot, losing eye

TUCKER, Ga. — A four-legged officer that took a bullet to the head while helping his human colleagues track down an alleged killer is ready to return to work.

DeKalb County K-9 Indi and his handler, Officer Norman Larsen, helped track down the man accused of killing Officer Edgar Flores on Dec. 13 in Decatur, Georgia. Brandon Taylor is accused of running from Flores during a traffic stop and then firing multiple gunshots, which killed the 24-year-old officer.

When Indi came upon Taylor, the man shot the dog before other officers shot and killed Taylor. Indi, 7, was seriously injured and lost a right eye. The injured dog was able to attend the funeral for Flores.

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After Indi recuperated, he began training again to return to work, according to the North American Police Work Dog Association's Georgia chapter. After successfully completing their training together, Indi and Larsen are ready to patrol DeKalb again, the association said.

The police pup’s December heroics were not the first for Indi, who has been with the department for five years. Indi’s work was featured in November 2016 on ajc.com when he helped catch a suspect in a brutal home invasion. Russell Erickson nearly died when he was beaten and cut in his Clarkston home. Thanks to Indi, it took officers about five minutes to track the suspect, who wasn’t far from Erikcson’s home.

"You would think (the suspect) would get as far away as possible as quickly as possible," Larsen told WSB in January. "When we came across him, it's one of those (moments) I'll remember my entire career because the dog did something amazing that day."

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