Polk County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office K9 Ace was released from the veterinary hospital Sunday with his front left leg amputated after being shot by a man who ambushed deputies August 6, 2026.
There are so many people and organizations that the Polk County Sheriff’s Office would like to acknowledge and thank for their part in getting our K9 Ace the help he needed after he was shot by a suspect on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
— Polk County Sheriff 🚔 Grady Judd (@PolkCoSheriff) August 7, 2026
Immediately after he was wounded, Ace was… pic.twitter.com/R8o1olmXq3
CBS 12 reported that deputies were trying to arrest Angel Bowers around 6:15 p.m. and he opened fire as Ace and three deputies closed in. One of the rounds “struck Ace in the left side of his chest and exited through his left shoulder, severely damaging his front leg and an artery.”
Ace’s handler, Deputy Natalie Oestreich, carried him from the scene and transported him to Parkway Veterinary Emergency Clinic in Lakeland, where they were able to stop the bleeding and stabilize the K9. He went into surgery and the leg had to be amputated.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is pleased to report that K9 Ace's surgery went well.
— Polk County Sheriff 🚔 Grady Judd (@PolkCoSheriff) August 7, 2026
Unfortunately, Ace's front left leg was too damaged, and it had to be amputated.
Ace is currently in stable condition.
Thank you to the staff at Veterinary Medical Center at Lakewood… pic.twitter.com/UQJp2bPXbo
Ace is coming home!!!
— Polk County Sheriff 🚔 Grady Judd (@PolkCoSheriff) August 9, 2026
Our K9 hero Ace was shot & critically injured protecting deputies and our community on Thursday night……it’s Sunday now, and he’s coming home.
The bad guy who shot Ace was eliminated by his handler and two other deputies at the scene.
Ace’s life was… pic.twitter.com/DNN2PGJ6uH
Video posted on X shows three-legged Ace leaving the veterinary hospital on Sunday:
Sheriff Judd said a SWAT team closed in on Bowers roughly two hours after Ace was shot and discovered he was deceased from a gunshot wound.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
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