Diesel died while bravely rushing into a room where terrorists were holed up, just months before he was due to retire.
On November 22, in an interview with RMC radio, a French police officer recounted for the first time the final moments of Diesel, the 7-year-old police dog who died during the raid that killed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the November 13 Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people. Diesel has been hailed by the French as a “four-legged hero”.
The unnamed police officer, who was also Diesel’s trainer, said the police dog was sent into Abaaoud’s apartment to scout the situation when the gunfire had just stopped. “When we got there, there were a lot of gunshots and grenades coming from the apartment. Then everything went quiet,” the police officer said.
“The atmosphere was very strange. After a few minutes of listening, we decided to let Diesel in to see if everything was safe. He was searching around the first room, then entered the second room and suddenly jumped forward. I thought he had found someone. Then he disappeared from my sight, and the shooting continued.” The police officer said Diesel was killed at that moment.
Diesel was a member of the Research, Assistance, Intervention and Deterrence (RAID) counter-terrorism task force. The task force has a total of 15 dogs, of which 10 are used to sniff out explosives, and Diesel is one of five dogs that specialize in attacking and suppressing the enemy with their strength.
Diesel has been serving diligently in the RAID task force for the past 5 years, and according to the plan, he will retire to “retire in his old age” early next year. This brave dog became the first member of the RAID dog squad to die while on duty.
“Diesel’s job was to clear the way for our team. He used all his senses to detect any suspects at the scene, and if possible, he would rush forward to attack and subdue the criminals. If he could not attack, he would stop and bark loudly to signal to us where the suspects were hiding,” the trainer said.
“I always had absolute trust in him, just as he always had trust in me. We both knew what we would do in that situation,” he choked up.
Diesel’s sacrifice was not in vain. In an extremely fierce firefight, French special forces eliminated the suspects holed up in the fortified apartment, including the terrorist mastermind Abaaoud. In addition to Diesel, who died, five members of the RAID special forces were only slightly injured in the attack.
Unforgettable loss
In an interview with NBC 6, Officer Gordon Dickinson of the Coral Gables Police Department’s K-9 unit said Diesel was truly a hero, and that the dog demonstrated the important role that police dogs play in the fight against terrorism.
“If you talk to any police dog trainer, they will tell you that losing your beloved dog is the hardest thing,” Dickinson said.
As someone who has trained and commanded three police dogs in his 16-year career, Dickinson knows all too well what his French colleague must have felt when Diesel died in the gunfight. “I think he would be devastated, devastated.”
William Delaney, a member of the National Police Support Team, believes that service dogs should be equipped with bulletproof vests like real counterterrorism police, because in many cases, they are the first line of defense for police.
“They will send these service dogs to dangerous places that they cannot go,” Delaney explained. His team has provided many bulletproof vests for police dogs in many South Florida police departments.
After Diesel’s death, French police posted his image on their Twitter account, attracting a lot of public attention. Thousands of condolences were sent to French police, and the keywords ##JesuisDiesel (I am Diesel) and #Jesuischien (I am a dog) flooded social media to express admiration and sadness for Diesel. Tens of thousands of French people also signed a petition asking the government to posthumously award Diesel a medal of honor.
Explaining the “Diesel fever”, social activist Bethany Sales said that in Western society, dogs are real bodyguards, symbols of loyalty and courage. In everyday life, they guard houses, guide the blind, and sound the alarm when there is a fire. In special situations, service dogs are trained to sniff out bombs, drugs, and traces of crime, protecting human peace.
The terrorists who murdered Diesel were attacking loyalty and innocence, qualities that are always highly valued in Western society. Therefore, the French people and many countries around the world expressing sympathy for Diesel is also a strong expression of the spirit of opposing brutal terrorists.
