A Polk County Sheriff’s Office K9 is recovering after being shot in the line of duty during an attempted arrest near Lakeland, Florida, and the injuries were serious enough to cost him a leg. The shooting happened Thursday night as deputies tried to take 27-year-old Angel Bowers into custody on a warrant tied to a child sex crime charge, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
Body camera and radio traffic captured the moment K9 handler Deputy Natalie Astrike called for help, and it wasn’t for herself. She was calling it in for her partner, a six-year veteran K9 named Ace, who had just been shot. Anyone who has spent time around working dogs knows that kind of instinct doesn’t get trained in overnight. It gets built over years of trusting the same partner to have your back, and this time it went the other way.
Deputies say a bondsman helped lead them to a tent hidden deep in the woods near Kathleen, where Bowers was reportedly hiding out after failing to show up in court. From inside the tent, Tampa Bay 28 reported that Bowers warned them he had a gun and was going to shoot. He allegedly fired around four times, and Ace was struck almost immediately. Deputies returned fire, and Bowers was killed at the scene.
Astrike rushed Ace to an emergency vet in Lakeland to get him stabilized, then Tampa General’s Pyramid helicopter flew him to a specialty veterinary clinic near Lakewood Ranch. Surgeons ended up amputating his front left leg, but the sheriff’s office says he is now in stable condition. Given how close that call was, stable is a word everyone in Polk County will happily take right now.
A Partnership Off Duty
Sheriff Judd didn’t mince words about what this dog means to his handler, describing the bond between a K9 and their deputy as closer than most siblings and comparing the shooting to losing a family member. Anyone who has owned a dog for a week understands that on some level, but for a K9 team, the stakes are a different animal entirely. These dogs aren’t pets that happen to wear a badge. They are trained partners who walk into the same danger their handler does, without a vote in the matter.
Because of the amputation, Ace’s law enforcement career is over. He will retire from active duty, but the good news is that retirement doesn’t mean goodbye. According to the sheriff, Ace gets to stay right where he belongs, in Astrike’s care, trading traffic stops for a permanent spot on the couch.
Community Steps Up
The Wiltz Family Trust has stepped in to cover Ace’s veterinary bills, and the organization has also agreed to fund a new canine for the department. It is a reminder that even after a rough night in the woods near Kathleen, a community can still show up fast when it matters.
Bowers is deceased, Ace is recovering, and Polk County has a new dog to look forward to down the road.