Koton was a German Shepherd K9 Police Officer

Police dog

A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...

 of the Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 police department. He was teamed with Officer Patterson for two years and was responsible for more than 24 felony arrests at the time of his death.

Biography

In 1991, Koton was shot and killed while trying to apprehend a suspect in the murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 of a police officer. Ten days before his death, Koton found ten kilos of cocaine

Cocaine

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 worth more than 1.2 million dollars. Koton's recorded date of death is 18 November 1991.

While acting in the film "K-9", Koton's character was also shot over drugs, by a criminal played by Kevin Tighe

Kevin Tighe

Kevin Tighe is an American character actor primarily known for his roles on television. Tighe is best known for his role as Roy DeSoto, a senior paramedic, on the NBC series Emergency! . He and Randolph Mantooth, his partner in the series, have remained close friends...

, but he recovered after Belushi's character thought he had died.