ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke County police said the department's K-9 officer, Jabbo, died Saturday night.
Department officials said his passing is due to an inoperable mass on his chest.
"This was not a loss that was anticipated. In fact, Jabbo worked on Saturday. There had not been any kind of outward signs that he was in medical distress until later Saturday evening," said Chief Howard Hall.
Jabbo specialized in bomb detection and patrol tracking since 2012.
The department says it is honored to have Jabbo as a member of its family and proud to have served alongside him. He will be greatly missed.
"If he saw someone coming, he would crouch down in the back of that car and wait until the person was right there and then he would jump and start barking because it would usually cause someone to jump practically out of their skin. As many times as he did it, I'm certain he enjoyed the reaction," said Howard Hall.