The 37-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting a police dog while attempting to evade officers — and who was later killed when officers returned fire — was identified Wednesday.
The shooting occurred after the suspect failed to yield while Burbank police were conducting a traffic stop at 6:40 p.m. Saturday in the 2400 block of Buena Vista Street near the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway on-ramp, according to Lt. Derek Green of the Burbank Police Department.
During the traffic stop, a passenger fled the vehicle, ran up the freeway on-ramp and jumped over an embankment wall into a nearby residential neighborhood, Green said.
The officers remained with the driver and vehicle while requesting assistance. Additional police resources responded and a coordinated search was begun using a police canine and a police helicopter.
The canine, named Spike, located the suspect hiding in nearby bushes and vegetation, and the suspect fired multiple rounds from a handgun, striking the animal, then ran away, police said.
Officers recovered the wounded canine, Green said, while a search for the suspect continued.
The dog was taken to an emergency veterinarian but was pronounced dead.
Officers later saw the suspect hiding amid thick, overgrown terrain adjacent to the freeway, near the Buena Vista Street on-ramp. He was still armed within proximity of a residential neighborhood, Green said.
The effort transitioned to a joint operation involving the Burbank and Glendale police departments and included additional K9 officers, crisis negotiators and the Burbank Police Department SWAT team.
Multiple efforts were made to communicate with the suspect, encouraging him to surrender peacefully, police said. Officers established a containment and deployed less lethal systems as part of the effort. During those attempts, the suspect began shooting at police officers, striking police vehicles parked near the scene, Green said.
Officers from both the Burbank and Glendale police departments returned fire, hitting the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The handgun was recovered nearby, authorities said.
The suspect was identified Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner as Jose Domingo Ayala Alas of Palmdale.
Anyone with information about the case was urged to call the Burbank Police Department Investigations Division at 818-238-3210.