Vancouver Police Department Sgt. Jesse Schellenberg knows full well that he might not be alive if it weren't for the heroic actions of his longtime K9 partner, Jade.On July 16, 2022, with a suspect's gun pointed at her human's head, Jade put her own life at risk to save his — and almost paid the ultimate price..That evening, officers responded to a break-in at an industrial premises in East Vancouver and attempted to halt a van fleeing the area at high speeds. According to Schellenberg, the suspect drove "really dangerously" up Commercial Dr. before turning onto 2 Ave. When the two met bumper to bumper, the suspect proceeded to reverse down a narrow alley, smashing into parked cars and nearly hitting cyclists..Schellenberg managed to strike the suspect's front axle, thus disabling the vehicle. At that point, he repeatedly told the suspect to exit, but his calls fell on deaf ears. With no other option, he deployed Jade to apprehend him. She bit him on the foot, giving Schellenberg time to run up and join her."It hit me all in a flash," he recalled. "I could see ... the flash of something silver, and at the last second, I realized it was actually a large revolver that was pointed at my head."Schellenberg said Jade, perhaps sensing the danger he was in, readjusted her bite from the suspect's shoe to his leg in an attempt to distract him. It did. The suspect turned his attention to her, pointed the gun at her head, and opened fire."I was certain in that moment that Jade was dead," Schellenberg said, noting that the suspect then pointed the gun at him again. "I knew at any moment I was going to be shot ... so I just got my gun out and I started firing as fast as I can.".He managed to disarm the suspect and tend to Jade, whose jaws were still tightly clenched on her target."She was just having a great time," Schellenberg explained. "As I removed her from the bite, she actually picked up his shoe from the ground and tried to steal it away. I got the shoe out of her mouth, and I remember just frantically ripping off her her ballistic vest ... I got another dog handler to help me, and we searched her, and searched her, and searched her, and we couldn't find any injuries."It turned out that the bullet had grazed her ear, and that aside from muzzle flash-induced burns, she was "completely uninjured.""Jade performed exactly like she was supposed to, and she took the bullet for me, but by some miracle, that bullet missed her," Schellenberg said. "This was a lethal force encounter where if she wasn't there, I probably wouldn't have been walking away.".The Independent Investigations Office of BC was called in to investigate the officer-involved shooting, and determined that Schellenberg's actions were "entirely appropriate." The suspect suffered gunshot wounds, but survived.Schellenberg and Jade had "been inseparable" since they first met, but that experience only strengthened their bond further. For their actions on the evening of July 16, 2022, they were awarded a Chief Constable's Commendation."The only reason I'm getting a Chief Constable's Commendation and not a funeral is because of my dog," he said. "My dog saved my life that day, and so in actual fact, the credit goes fully to Jade."
