Alaska Troopers Shoot, Wound Man Who Killed K-9 During Pursuit

A man who allegedly shot and killed a police dog during a pursuit Sunday morning was wounded when an Alaska state trooper and Palmer police officer returned fire, according to troopers.

The incident started at 5:20 a.m. Sunday when a Palmer police officer pulled over a Geo sedan with four occupants in a traffic stop within Palmer city limits, according to an online dispatch from troopers. It wasn't clear what spurred the traffic stop.

The vehicle pulled away and "began traveling southbound on the Glenn Highway," troopers said. The Palmer police officer called for help from Alaska State Troopers.

"The suspect vehicle eluded police for several miles until it pulled into a driveway near the Glenn Highway/Parks Highway interchange," according to the dispatch.

The vehicle pulled "a couple hundred" yards down the driveway before the driver exited and ran into the woods, with a Palmer police officer, a trooper and a trooper K-9 pursuing the suspect into the woods, ADN.com reports.

The driver, who troopers identified as 25-year-old Almando Abarca, fired "multiple rounds," mortally wounding the police dog, troopers wrote.

Both officers then returned fire, striking Abarca once in the shoulder, troopers said.