On January 25, 2023, a shopkeeper in Montpellier was the victim of an armed robbery in the Rue du Puech-Radier, in the Tournezy district, reports the newspaper Midi-Libre.
At about 8:45 p.m., three armed and hooded men entered the food store that had just closed. They demanded that the owner hand over the contents of the till and the last days' takings. The owner refused and a fight broke out between him and one of the criminals. At that moment, the shopkeeper's dog, a Malinois, intervened to protect his master. Unfortunately, one of the robbers coldly killed the dog by shooting him several times.
Aware that the gunshots would alert neighbors and police, the three offenders fled without loot by getting into a car driven by a fourth man. Police officers arrived on the scene to find the owner with a gunshot wound to the skull and the heroic dog bleeding to death. The car of the robbers was found burned shortly afterwards in the town of Lattes.
The Departmental Directorate of the Judicial Police was put in charge of the investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office, and experts from the Forensic Identification Department searched the scene for clues to find the perpetrators. The tragic death of the dog that tried to protect its owner is a reminder of the unbreakable friendship between animals and their owners.
