The South Bend Police Department is launching an internal investigation to try to figure out exactly what happened during an arrest over the weekend.

A chase on foot involving a K-9 unit set off a bizarre chain of events Sunday afternoon.

At least 3 officers suffered bite wounds from the K-9 officer.

One had to be taken to the hospital, and he will recover.

But officers on the scene also reported a shot fired, and say they had to break up a fight between two officers.

The incident started when police pursued a stolen car that ended up crashing into a fire hydrant on Western Avenue.

The suspect then ran on foot through a nearby alley.

“By that point there were a lot of officers in the area... After the foot pursuit the individual had nowhere to go he was boxed in,” said SBPD spokesman Capt. Phil Trent.

Officers reportedly set loose Nikko, a K-9 officer to assist in the chase through the alley. But instead of going after the suspect; Nikko went after an officer.

Trent confirms that some officers on the scene have said Nikko attacked Cpl. Joshua Morgan in the alley, who then fired a shot to defend himself.

“It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that an officer might have to use deadly force against a police canine. It’s happened before and it’s happened in other jurisdictions,” Capt. Trent said.

The chase ended in the backyard of a home in the 400 block of Liberty St, and the suspect was arrested.

Then, another strange turn. Officers report they had to break up a fight between the Cpl. Scott Ross, who is Nikko's handler, and Cpl. Morgan.

“I head a dog and then we heard some officers yelling to get their dog. I didn't know if somebody got bit or what was going on,” said a neighbor who asked to be identified as Mark. He watched as police arrested the suspect, but says he did not hear a gun shot.

To add to the already strange scenario, while officers were making the arrest, Nikko then bit at least two more officers.

Patrolman Jamil Elwaer was taken to the hospital after he was attacked.

“He's ok, they originally thought it was a little more severe than it ended up being. I’m sure he's in pain and would beg to differ but, it's not life threatening,” Elwaer said.

So for police, there's a lot to sort out.

“We're still just trying to document exactly what happened (by interviewing) the officers,” Trent said.

Police are in the process of interviewing the officers on the scene to find out what happened and see if action needs to be taken.

Trent says at this point he can only confirm that he’s heard versions of these stories from officers. It will likely be at least a few days before they sort the story out by seeing how officers’ stories match up.

As far as the possible fight goes, Trent says there were no injuries between those two officers, and if something did happen it was very brief.

So what lies ahead for Nikko? Capt. Trent says Nikko and his handler had a few scheduled days off anyway, but that the K-9 will return to work as usual.

He said trainers say it's likely it was ‘operator error,’ and that there’s nothing wrong with Nikko to necessitate taking him off duty.