--- description: A Palm Beach County police dog was killed Monday in a deputy-involved shooting title: Sheriff's Deputies Comfort Each Other After Police Dog Is Killed Taking Down Murder Suspect image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt540cce2f81ae051a/69894240457a52ef97d6036f/pbso-k9-dog-shot.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sheriff's Deputies Comfort Each Other After Police Dog Is Killed Taking Down Murder Suspect by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 25, 2018 5:21 PM CUT  Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 25, 2018 5:21 PM CUT A police dog serving the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office was killed Monday in a shooting, authorities said. Palm Beach County deputies had been dispatched near The Mall at Wellington Green to apprehend two murder suspects. One suspect, Justin Vazque surrendered to deputies right away, while another suspect, Giovany Ramos Alvarez, 28, ran away. Deputies sent a 3-year-old K-9 called Cigo after Alvarez, who opened fire toward the deputies and hit the dog, according to police. Two deputies returned gunfire and struck the Alvarez, who remains in serious condition, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Vazquez, the first suspect, was booked in the [Palm Beach County Jail](https://www.facebook.com/palmbeachcountysheriff/posts/2356151394459705?%5F%5Fxts%5F%5F[0]=68.ARCnu6154Vf7EojoulMWqzkfiuXrxtsC4XMImm1t3OJZWJ9gi2uD1YrwKLhrJgAMZMrhTWg%5FkDt5nC-v8HV0o4hDv0XJwWO7ZTVHNwhsd%5FuuGjMJHPYQPwD7MsaDvYZPYifaI9%5FHaWm4PLmuksZGZA0sErV8UgGfZRMOjc0BH7lwMkwQh6Gj0feUfe%5FjSR4ct8Woh3Kp9wak%5FbqQ1BQ1xtqEE%5FevXe-7n2hmQm7R0%5Fk8edL5mXmY4DU7N3yEIPfproLbSaC3TDhJkemoLFy9kvrWqf2u46ZxHwyqVDpBAPeqF-Z03Jw2NoQcTS5RVItCMy-alcwUR4L4skfDwbUXhfJ%5FZA&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-R "undefined"). The death of Cigo left Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies emotional. A video from the Sheriff’s Office showed Cigo’s handler hugging his fellow deputies and colleagues, who offered him words of comfort. > [](https://twitter.com/PBCountySheriff/status/1077425250428768256) The Sheriff’s Office honored Cigo in a tweet, calling him a “good boy” who will “never be forgotten.” > [](https://twitter.com/PBCountySheriff/status/1077590519579099136) “It’s difficult anytime to use a dog. But, remember, the dog did his job,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. “He saved the deputies’ lives and gave the opportunity to take this person into custody.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5488190/pbso-k9-dog-killed-shooting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5488190/pbso-k9-dog-killed-shooting/"},"headline":"Sheriff's Deputies Comfort Each Other After Police Dog Is Killed Taking Down Murder Suspect","datePublished":"2018-12-25T17:21:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:21:17.551Z","description":"A Palm Beach County police dog was killed Monday in a deputy-involved shooting","url":"https://time.com/5488190/pbso-k9-dog-killed-shooting/","keywords":["Crime","Florida","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt540cce2f81ae051a/69894240457a52ef97d6036f/pbso-k9-dog-shot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt540cce2f81ae051a/69894240457a52ef97d6036f/pbso-k9-dog-shot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"pbso-k9-dog-shot","caption":"","creditText":"Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5488190/pbso-k9-dog-killed-shooting/","name":"Sheriff's Deputies Comfort Each Other After Police Dog Is Killed Taking Down Murder Suspect"}}]}] ```