Police dog and suspect wounded during shooting in St. George

A man and a police dog were injured during a law enforcement shooting episode in St. George late Tuesday night, authorities said.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has not released the condition of suspect, though he was expected to survive. He was shot by police after allegedly shooting the police canine.

Barry Golding, chief investigator of the Washington County attorney’s office, said the man, believed to be from St. George, was hit once in the arm and multiple times in the lower half of his body.

The canine was in stable condition after surgery and was released from a veterinary clinic Wednesday afternoon, police said.

The events began just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, when a man allegedly stole a truck after assaulting the vehicle’s owner near 400 North Bluff Street, a Washington County attorney’s office news release said.

The owner of the truck had confronted the man for throwing rocks at the truck, the owner reported to police. That’s when the man assaulted the truck owner and took off in the vehicle.

“It turned out he was trying to break into his vehicle,” Golding said.

The man later abandoned the truck and stole a second truck, authorities said, and St. George police pursued.

The man crashed the second truck into a house near 2500 Santa Clara Drive. Officers from three agencies — the Santa Clara Police Department, the St. George Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office — “attempted to talk the suspect into surrendering” while the man sat in the truck, the news release said.

After a 30-minute standoff, the man opened the truck door and Tess, a 7-year-old Malinois police dog, jumped into the cab, officials said. The man shot the dog in the head with a handgun, hitting Tess twice.

Officers from the three agencies then fired at the man, who was struck multiple times. The man fired more rounds after hitting the dog, though his bullets didn’t hit a person, Golding said. No police officers were injured in the episode.

Police believe the man found the handgun in the second truck he stole.

The man was taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center for surgery. Police said they believe he will recover.

A medical helicopter flew the police dog to a veterinary specialist in Las Vegas after initial treatment to stop the bleeding in Washington County. Las Vegas police shut down a busy intersection so the helicopter could land in front of the clinic and deliver Tess, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

The dog was in stable condition and was released from the Las Vegas clinic Wednesday afternoon. Tess returned to her handler and is expected to make a full recovery in six weeks.  

The man will be arrested and charged once he is released from the hospital, Golding said.

Reporter Luke Ramseth contributed to this story.