PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. (AP) — A canine officer was shot and killed while responding to a hit-and-run in a Philadelphia suburb, authorities said. The suspect was later killed after a massive manhunt.
The shooting happened around 6 p.m. Thursday in Plymouth Township, about 15 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said Plymouth Township canine officer Brad Fox, who would have turned 35 on Friday, was shot in the head while he responded to the call.
Authorities declined to release specific details of the shooting and would not say how the suspect was killed. There had been a massive manhunt that closed off roads in the area and forced service on a regional rail line in the area to be suspended.
“We lost an incredible human being tonight,” Ferman said at a news conference. Fox was a seven-year veteran of the force and a Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq.
Hours later, a few miles away from the scene, dozens of police officers and community members gathered at Montgomery Hospital in Norristown as they waited for Fox’s body to be loaded into a vehicle and taken away.
At the earlier news conference, Plymouth Township police chief Joseph Lawrence said Fox was married with a young child and that his wife was expecting another.
“This was a senseless, senseless act,” Lawrence said. “Brad Fox is a hero.”
