By Police1 Staff

PONTIAC, Ill. — A K-9 officer and his K-9 partner were killed in a crash Wednesday night after a vehicle slammed into the officer’s parked cruiser.

Officer Casey Kohlmeier, 29, and his K-9 Draco were sitting in the median along I-55 shortly after midnight when they were struck by another vehicle, police chief James Woolford told NBC Chicago.

(Photo courtesy Pontiac Police)

"This is a hole we can't fill," Woolford said as he fought back tears.

Kohlmeier was an Air Force veteran who had been with the Pontiac police 6 years.

The driver of the other vehicle was hospitalized but their condition is unknown, according to the report.