LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- The recent officer involved shooting that left one person dead, also left a K-9 officer injured. A part of law enforcement, K-9's are trained service dogs tasked with handling dangerous situations when assisting police officers.

A K-9 Officer named Frits was injured during the line of during an officer involved shooting. Although expected to make a full recovery, police say K-9 officers become family and it's heartbreaking when one is hurt on the job.

Sergeant Matthew Benoit with the Lafayette Police Department says K-9 officers are specially trained service dogs equipped to handle dangerous situations.

"Canines have been utilized in law enforcement for many years. We use these trained dogs to deploy in situations where it would be unsafe for human," said Benoit.

Benoit, who has served ten years with the LPD K-9 Unit, says before becoming an officer K-9's are trained as service dogs from the time they are puppies, until they are obtained by law enforcement agencies and get receive specialized training.

"More detailed, more geared towards law enforcement, whether it be narcotics detection, explosive detection, you know, locating persons, things of that nature, apprehension. They specialize. They get pretty detailed in what they do, and that can go on for a couple of years," said Benoit.

He says this type of training is to help keep police officers as well as themselves safe. However, there are times where K-9 officers are injured while working, just like K-9 Officer Frits. K-9 Frits is a Belgian Malinois who's been with LPD for a year and was injured when he was pinned between vehicles during the incident.

"He does have minor injuries. He's out of the veterinary, and is recovering. He's a little banged up, bruised up, but the dog is going to be okay," Benoit explained.

Police say with continued care and support, K-9 Officer Frits will return to duty once he is completely healed.

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