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Florida sheriff's K-9 has leg amputated after shooting during attempted arrest; man shot by deputies dies

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said K-9 Ace was shot Thursday night as deputies tried to make an arrest on a warrant, and that deputies returned fire, killing the man; the investigation is developing.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 10, 2026, 8:53 p.m. ET

More on this incident

The Polk Sheriff's Office in said a sheriff's K-9 named Ace was shot Thursday night during an attempted arrest, and that the dog underwent surgery in which his leg was amputated. The account was reported on August 6, 2026 by wcyb.com and krcrtv.com. Officials have described the location only at the level. "The bullet broke his leg and tore an artery, which caused him to lose a lot of blood," the Polk Sheriff's Office said. Sheriff Judd Grady said: "Our K-9 almost bled to death before we could get him medical care." On Friday, the sheriff's office said Ace had successfully undergone surgery and that his leg had been amputated: "K-9 Ace's surgery went well." Accounts of the circumstances differ. According to krcrtv.com, deputies were attempting to arrest a man who had been tracked down by the sheriff's office and K-9 Ace after a warrant was issued for his arrest. According to wcyb.com, deputies with the sheriff's office were attempting to arrest a man on a warrant, during which K-9 Ace was shot. Neither account outweighs the other. Grady said the man had failed to appear in court on Monday after being charged with having unlawful sex with a minor, and that a warrant was issued for his arrest. The sheriff's office identified the man, who died, as , and said deputies returned fire. Grady said the man "got exactly what he asked for," adding: "We obliged him. It's just the grace of God that our K-9 deputy and the other two back-up deputies -- there were a total of three -- weren't shot." The sheriff's office is the responding agency. No further details of the shooting have been released, and the matter remains developing.

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Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 1511 Aug 2026, 02:43current

    Added katv.com to the outlets reporting deputies returned fire and fatally shot the man; minor wording tightening.

  2. Version 1411 Aug 2026, 02:37

    Added the sheriff's office statement that K-9 Ace remained in stable condition and included mynews4.com among outlets reporting deputies returned fire; minor tightening.

  3. Version 1311 Aug 2026, 02:33

    No new facts; grouped cbs6albany.com with the outlets attributing the fatal shooting to Sheriff Grady and tightened wording.

  4. Version 1211 Aug 2026, 02:24

    Added wsbt.com to the outlets reporting the underlying charge and the fatal-shooting account, and cbs6albany.com to the attribution of the shooting account; headline and dek reworked.

  5. Version 1111 Aug 2026, 02:13

    Added that the incident is no longer active per fox23maine.com; no changes to figures or attributions.

  6. Version 1011 Aug 2026, 02:08

    Added headline and standfirst leading with the injured K-9 and the sheriff's office account; body text unchanged from v9.

  7. Version 911 Aug 2026, 02:03

    Condensed the outlet-by-outlet attribution of the suspect's identification into a single line and tightened wording; facts unchanged.

  8. Version 811 Aug 2026, 01:54

    Reduced the suspect's name from four sentences to one: it now appears only in the sentence identifying whom deputies were trying to arrest, printed exactly as the fact set gives it ("Angel Bowers, 27"). Later references use "the man" and "the 27-year-old." The sheriff's characterization is retained as a partial quote — Grady said the man "got exactly what he asked for" — so the meaning is unchanged without repeating the name. All source disagreements (setting/underlying charge, manner of death, identity attribution, amputation detail) remain reported with their attributions, and cbs2iowa.com's variant attribution of the identification was added for completeness.

  9. Version 711 Aug 2026, 01:47

    Headline and dek rewritten to lead with the wounded K-9 rather than the man who died; outlet attribution lists tightened; no new facts.

  10. Version 611 Aug 2026, 01:42

    Added cbs4local.com and wpde.com to the attribution lists for the identification, the manner of death and the arrest-attempt accounts, and noted that casualty details came from Sheriff Grady and his office.

  11. Version 511 Aug 2026, 01:37

    Added kval.com and fox56.com to the attribution lists for the identification, the manner of death and the warrant accounts; moved the sheriff's quote about the K-9's blood loss up alongside the surgery statement.

  12. Version 411 Aug 2026, 01:33

    Added kfdm.com, komonews.com, wwmt.com and nbcmontana.com to the attribution ranges for the amputation, identification, manner of death and setting, and moved the date of the reporting into the lead.

  13. Version 311 Aug 2026, 01:23

    Expanded sourcing from 6 to 16 outlets, updating the attribution splits on the amputation, the identification, how the man died, and the setting.

  14. Version 211 Aug 2026, 01:03

    Removed the suspect's name and age from the dek, replacing it with the sheriff's attributed account that deputies who returned fire killed the man they were trying to arrest and that no deputies were hit. Adjusted the headline's second clause accordingly; it still names no individual. The name "Angel Bowers, 27" is retained in the body, attributed exactly as the fact set gives it, along with the sourced disagreements over the setting, the manner of death and who stated the identification, and all official quotes verbatim.

  15. Version 111 Aug 2026, 00:57

    First published.

  16. Version 111 Aug 2026, 00:53current

    First published.

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