K-9 killed during Polk County shooting honored with procession

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — One fallen canine was carried in a procession Wednesday after being killed in a shooting, the Lake Wales Police Department said.

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Lake Wales Police Officer Jared Joyner’s K-9 partner Max died this morning in Polk County.

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The procession started at 11:45 a.m. at the Lake Wales police station and went to the medical examiner’s office in Winter Haven for a necropsy.

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Polk County Sheriff’s Office K-9 deputies joined the procession.

LWPD and PCSO is investigating two shootings that happened around 7 a.m. involving the suspect.

PCSO said they received a 911 call from a victim on Seminole Avenue in Lake Wales. The victim reported that the suspect, 57-year-old Earnest Borders dragged her out of a car, choked her, hit her head on the concrete and fired multiple shots outside of her apartment.

When officers responded to the scene, Borders fled. He returned to the area, about a hundred feet of MLK Boulevard. LWPD Officers arrived and Borders hid in a wooded area.

Joyner and his K-9 Max searched the area with the other officers, and soon the canine found Borders. Police said Borders did not cooperate and when asked to show his hands, he shot and murdered Max. Officers defended themselves by shooting at Borders, who still had his gun.

Investigators said that Borders, a violent convicted felon, was transported to a local hospital and died.

No other officers were injured except Max, who died at the scene.

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