Braintree Police Honoring Slain K-9 Kitt's 'Courageous Service'

BRAINTREE, MA — Braintree police will hold a closed memorial service for K-9 Kitt, who was killed while protecting his handler from a man authorities said wounded two police officers in a shooting near the Braintree Village apartments. The memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m., Tuesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough , but it's limited to uniformed first responders and invited guests.

People who want to show their support are welcome to line up along the procession line as police leave Braintree and bring Kitt to Gillette Stadium. The procession will depart Cartwright Funeral Home at 10AM on Tuesday. It will turn right on Washington Street at South Side Tavern. It will proceed down Washington Street and turn right onto Pond Street. It will then turn right from Pond Street onto Granite Street. The procession will then travel down Granite Street onto Route 93 South. From Route 93 southbound, it will head down Route 95 soutbound and then onto Route 1 toward Gillette Stadium.

Kitt was a Belgian Malinois. He was born in Slovakia in August 2009 and was brought to the United States by Connecticut Canine Services of Bethany, Connecticut. In 2010, the Braintree Police Working Dog Foundation bought Kitt, and police assigned him to K-9 Officer William Cushing Jr., one of the two Braintree officers wounded, along with Officer Matthew Donaghue, during the shooting on June 4.

Over their 11 years together, Kitt and Cushing "had tremendous success and a positive impact on the community," Braintree police said in a statement. In 2016, Kitt received the Braintree Police Medal of Valor for protecting several officers during an armed confrontation.

In July 2020, Kitt and Cushing located the suspect police said started a shooting at the South Shore Plaza, resulting in serious injuries and a lockdown of the mall. After an hour of tracking, Kitt located and apprehended the suspect, who was hiding in a swamp.

Kitt's last mission on June 4ultimately cost the K-9's life, but his heroics saved Cushing and Donaghue. That afternoon, Cushing and Donaghue and Officer Richard Seibert responded to a domestic violence call involving a gun. All three officers, along with Kitt, searched the woods to track the suspect, later identified as Andrew Homen, 34, of Brockton.

After the officers got about 75 yards into the wood, Homen ambushed the officers, according to police. Police said Homen shot both Cushing and Donaghue, leaving them with serious injuries.

As Homen repeatedly fired his gun, Kitt heroically advanced towards the suspect, distracting his attention away from the officers. Kitt was shot while protecting the other officers and succumbed to his injuries.

Though the service is private, police said the public can donate to support the injured officers and the Braintree Police K-9 Unit.