El Paso County Sheriff’s Office remembers K9 Jinx, killed in line of duty in 2022

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- On Tuesday morning, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office held a ceremony to remember the sacrifice their K9-Officer "Jinx" made one year ago today.

A suspect shot and killed Jinx in Manitou Springs on April 11, 2022, when deputies were trying to arrest him for threatening people with a gun.

Sheriff Joe Roybal told KRDO it can't be overstated that the K9 made the ultimate sacrifice. The anniversary of Jinx's death shows the importance of the relationship between a K9 handler and their partner.

"For an officer to make the decision to release the K9 to protect other partners or themselves is no easy feat, and I commend Deputy Hancock for making that hard decision that night to deploy K9 Jinx to keep the rest of the officers including himself safe," said Sheriff Roybal.

"Unfortunately, sometimes we have to put them in harm's way to do jobs that are a little too dangerous for us. The dogs are there to protect us and that night Jinx did his job very well," said Deputy Hancock, Jinx's handler. "He went in and engaged the suspect and gave us that crucial few seconds that we needed to make sure that we were safe, and made sure not only me but three other officers got to go home with their families after that night."

In May, the names of Jinx and El Paso County Deputy Andrew Peery who also died in the line of duty last year are being etched into the Fallen Officer Wall in Washington D.C.