The Metropolitan Police Department Regrets to Announce the Passing of K9 Rocket

Monday, September 19, 2022

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) regrets to announce the passing of K9 Rocket, a long-time explosives detection dog assigned to our Special Operations Division. The seven-year-old Malinois Shepherd was found deceased by his handler inside of a marked MPD K9 vehicle on late Monday morning. The vehicle was parked, secured and idling in the 2800 block of New York Avenue, Northeast. This tragic incident is currently under investigation to determine the circumstances that led up to the dog’s death.

All K9 vehicles at MPD are equipped with a temperature monitoring and alarm system that should activate when the interior environment of the vehicle exceeds a safe temperature. A full inspection of the vehicle is being conducted to determine if the system malfunctioned.