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Boy who painted tribute to fallen K-9 surprised at school by officers

By Joanna Putman
Police1

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. — A K-9 handler and an elementary school student met each other for the first time after the boy painted a tribute to a fallen K-9 officer, WCIV reported.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Special Agent Richard Hunton was K-9 Rico’s handler when Rico was killed while on duty in September. The K-9 was credited with saving many lives during the operation, according to the report.

Hunton visited Joel Ekpunobi, a fifth-grade student, at school on Nov. 27 to express his gratitude for a painted tribute to Rico.

“I wanted to tell (Joel) ‘Thank you’ and that I appreciated the painting,” Hunton said.

Joel had worked for weeks to make the painting and seemed to have a special connection to the project, according to the report.

“He worked on the painting for two and a half weeks from sketching, getting it onto the canvas and then painting it,” art teacher Megan Sweeney said. “It really struck a chord with him.”

Officers also brought K-9 officers into the classroom to meet Joel and his classmates, according to the report.

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