Ivan, a 3-year-old German shepherd, did a fine job of detective work in locating a stolen handgun, but his trigger discipline could use improvement. He pawed at the gun, which he’d located in a snow bank, and caused it to discharge.
"Ivan is trained to sit when he finds something, then the handler will instruct him to paw for the item, and that is when the gun fired," Essex County, Mass., sheriff’s spokesperson Maurice Pratt told the Union Leader.
C’mon dog, keep your booger hook off the bang switch.
“Everyone on the scene was startled, including Ivan,” Lawrence Police Chief John Romero told CNN.
The incident began when police responded to a report of shots being fired, and spotted a man burying something in the snow. Ivan quickly located the gun, and a quick trace of the serial number indicated it was reported stolen in New Hampshire on Oct. 2 of last year.
Fortunately, though shaken up, nobody was injured. Neither Ivan nor his handler, Lt. John Pickles, will miss any time off work.
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