A coward gunned down a police K-9 during a routine traffic stop in California, before also being shot dead when he opened fire at officers following a hours-long standoff.

The unidentified shooter had been the passenger in a car that was stopped late Saturday on the I-5 in Burbank for illegally tinted windows, the Los Angeles Times reported .

While the driver cooperated with officers, the passenger raced off, jumping off an embankment, sparking a huge hunt involving a police helicopter.

A police K-9 officer, Spike, then found him hiding in bushes along the highway — just for the suspect to fire “multiple rounds, striking the canine before fleeing on foot,” police said.

The suspect was eventually cornered, with negotiators speaking in Spanish and English during a three-and-a-half-hour

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