Police shoot dog

 

What they do?

They shoot your dog, among other things.

"National Night Out", my ass.


Capitol Heights Police shoot family's dog, Cash

http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/269779/373/Capitol-Heights-Police-shoot-familys-dog

7 August 2013

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- Within seconds a friendly visit to a front door by police turned violent.

Capitol Heights Police say one of their officers was forced to shoot a dog that came running from a house straight at a cop. The dog survived and now all those involved are telling their side of the story.

Last night was National Night Out, when local police came out into the community to educate the public about what they do. Officers were going door to door handing out leaflets, and that's when things turned ugly.

Nine-month-old "Cash" seems to be back to his old self, according to his owners less than a day after he was shot by police.

Cash's owner Reggie Matthews says, "I was enraged."

Matthews says when he answered the door to take a police leaflet Cash managed to get out the door and run about 30 yards down towards a group of volunteers and officers who had just left his porch.

The officer feeling threatened reached for his gun and shot the dog.

The owner then rushed the dog to the nearest animal hospital for emergency surgery. That's when the veterinarian pulled the bullet out of the dog's shoulder. The single bullet shot had lodged in his right chest cavity.

Capitol Heights Police Chief Anthony Ayers says the Officer, a one-year-veteran of the force didn't have another option. He took WUSA9 to the site of the shooting to offer a further explanation of how the officer says it all happened.

"He took the action and the dog was right here in front of him ...he took an accurate shot from real close," said Ayers.

Ayers is standing by his officer saying:

"My officers were heroic, because they put themselves between the charging dog and the volunteers who were mostly children that were helping pass out crime prevention literature to the community."

In the end this first time dog owner is just happy "Cash" is still alive and doing well but his frustration at what happened still exists.

"For you to sit there and shoot to kill my dog... I have a problem with Capitol Heights Police."

The shooting is still under investigation.

Dog's death starts bizarre police saga

Aug. 13, 2013

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130813/NEWS01/308130052/floyd-james-rochester-police?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

For the last couple of years, Floyd James Jr. and his 9-year-old Belgian Shepherd, Cinnamon, shared a small house on Flora Street.

That ended last month when Rochester police shot and killed Cinnamon, touching off a series of interactions with police that left James searching for explanations.

James was arrested twice in the days after the July 11 shooting. The first arrest came when he was accused of not controlling Cinnamon, who police said appeared dangerous.

The second arrest came days later, after police received threatening 911 calls from an untraceable cell phone — calls that police now acknowledge had no connection to James.

James, an Army veteran, retired carpenter and an former Monroe County Legislature candidate in 2001, said Cinnamon was a sweet dog, given to him by his daughter-in-law as a companion animal. Diabetes has reduced the 53-year-old’s use of his hands and decreased his vision.

“We had her for two years,” said Maraliz James, 24, who lives in Minnesota. “She was an indoor dog. She would never even bark at people. I don’t understand why they had to shoot her. She was a very loving dog.”

Cinnamon’s last moments began when Rochester Police Officer Christopher Burgstrom knocked on James’ front door. Road crews were poised to repave Flora Street, a narrow block near the Genesee River, and James’ truck was blocking their way.

James was ordered to move the truck but couldn’t; it was out of gas. During a verbal back and forth that followed, James said he called 911 “three or four times” after being told at the scene there was nothing he could do because they’d already called for a tow truck.

When James, in an effort to hoist the truck to avoid damage in a tow, went inside for a jack handle, a friend came to the door.

“As I was standing there at the front door, Cinnamon came through my legs and out of the house. She stepped off the porch and toward the truck on the sidewalk. The officer came around the car.”

The next thing he said he heard was Officer Burgstrom yelling: “Get your dog! Get your dog! Get your dog!” and then gunshots.

In fear of his safety, Burgstrom was backing up when he shot Cinnamon twice in the head.

James rushed to his wounded dog before police then pulled him off the ground, handcuffed him, and put him in the back seat of a squad car.

Cinnamon was still alive after being shot, and several neighbors said they believed the dog was strangled at the scene. But Cinnamon was suffering seizures when placed on a control pole, police said, and was put down at Animal Services headquarters.

James and police agree that Cinnamon wasn’t restrained, and wouldn’t retreat when ordered to. They disagree that Cinnamon posed a danger to Officer Burgstrom when she rounded the truck.

Cinnamon “was advancing toward him with fur standing up on its back and its head lowered,” Officer Nickolas Isler wrote in his report.

The dog approached until Burgstrom “fired his service weapon at the dog striking it,” said Officer Shawn Rice in his incident report.

James was charged with reckless endangerment for “letting his dog outside after repeated orders by Officer Burgstrom to not do so, causing the risk of serious physical injury.”

That charge has since been adjourned, and will be dismissed, if James can avoid any new charges. For his part, James wants the officers to answer for the death of his dog.

“She didn’t charge at him,” said James. “In all of the commotion that morning, I didn’t have a chance to let Cinnamon go to the bathroom. I was preoccupied. She just wanted to use the bathroom.”

On July 13, two days after being arrested and losing his dog, matters became worse for James.

Police came to his house and arrested him again because of threatening 911 calls made that morning from an untraceable cell phone, said RPD spokesperson Sgt. Elena Correia.

According to police, 911 operators received a call about 11 a.m. from a suicidal male who told dispatchers he was 34 years old and was going to get a police officer to shoot him by “running toward a cop,” and “reaching at them” at the Corn Hill Arts Festival.

The caller also mumbled an unclear name that sounded like “Franklin Jermaine.”

Several officers responded to the festival site but could not find the caller.

“The officers, knowing that Floyd James was extremely upset over the recent situation, detained Floyd James because RPD believed he fit the description of the caller,” Correia said.

According to James, police entered and searched his home without a warrant. He said he told police that he didn’t call 911 that morning, but the officers handcuffed him and put him in the back seat of a squad car and drove away.

“He never showed up in the hospital or the police station,” said James’ wife, Donna Hodgins-James, who went looking for her husband with a neighbor. “How are they going to help him with mental hygiene without taking him to the hospital?”

Meanwhile, the officers drove James to a deserted area near the west bank of the Genesee River, at the end of Flint Street.

James said he feared for his safety because the area, known as “the hole,” has a reputation for violent crime among area residents.

James was handcuffed while questioned, but wasn’t injured.

Finally, he said, “they uncuffed me, took me out of one car, and put me in the other car; and that other car took me (home),” he said.

Correia confirmed that officers responded to James’ house on July 13, and said based on neighbors’ involvement at the scene, and the shooting of Cinnamon two days earlier: “It was starting to get to be a hostile environment. ...So, the officers decided to just go around the corner on Flint Street – just to make sure that they would be able to handle the situation safely.”

But Correia said evidence that James had nothing to do with the calls soon emerged: “While he was detained, 911 received another call from the alleged suicidal male at which point they released Mr. James. The officers acted in good faith by reaching out and providing assistance.”

For James that’s a hard sell.

“The non-professionalism of the officers is my concern,” he said.

It’s a hard sell for Hodgins-James as well.

“They entered his house without a warrant,” she said. “I don’t think they have the right to go into your home and forcibly remove you when you say you didn’t call for help. The man said he didn’t make the calls. That should have been enough.”

An update to a story I posted yesterday without much detail.

Now, we see the usual pattern emerging.


Colorado Springs Police Release Statement About Fatal Shooting Of Dog

By: KKTV

Updated: Fri 10:27 PM, Aug 30, 2013

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/Emotional-Owner-Talks-To-11-News-After-Officer-Shoot-His-Dog-221798811.html

The family that lost their pet during the course of a police investigation early Friday morning tell 11 News they're devastated.

They're even more shaken up that a bullet went through a window into their home.

Springs police say officers were forced to shoot and kill a pit bull after it came charging towards them and refused to back down. Police tell 11 News the dog was exhibiting aggressive behavior, and the officers were afraid of being attacked.

The officers were searching the 1100 block of Sandpiper Drive for suspects in vehicle break-ins that had been reported just after 3 a.m. Their encounter with the dog happened just before 4 a.m.

Joshua Burch says he was sitting outside with his dog keeping watch over his street. Birch says he was doing so because they've had a lot of suspicious activity in the neighborhood.

(No sh*t Josh. They wear blue gang outfits. - AF)

But the late hour finally took its toll, and Burch says he fell asleep. He woke up to gunshots--and then saw police shooting his 2 1/2-year-old pit bull, Kara.

Then to his horror, he realized one of the shots had gone through his home.

"I was torn up they killed my dog," Burch said through tears. "But my biggest concern was they could have killed someone in my family."

Birch's wife was asleep in the bedroom where the bullet tore through the window. His two young sons were in the next bedroom over.

Police say the bullet ricocheted off the ground, causing it to enter the bedroom.

Colorado Springs Police released a statement Friday on their version of the events.

The statement is:

On 08/30/2013 at approximately 0320 am, two uniformed Colorado Springs Police Department officers were looking for suspects who had been breaking into cars. As the officers were driving in a fully marked police car in the 1100 block of Sandpiper Drive they encountered a male lying on the ground. The male, later identified as the owner of the dog was on his back with his feet up on the west curb. He was laying outstretched so that his legs, back and head were on the blacktop of the road.

As an officer approached to check the male’s welfare, the officer verbally identified themselves. They stated “Police” and requested the male show his hands. The male stood up and staggered towards the middle of the street. The male was noticeably intoxicated. The second officer noticed a large dog running towards the first officer.

The first officer asked the male several times “Is this your dog?”, as they backed away from the rushing animal. The dog was charging aggressively, barking and growling. The dog moved forward from a distance of fifteen feet to within five feet of the officer. The officer fired a total of four shots at the dog. The dog succumbed to the injuries.

Officers were contacted by a female due to a ricochet that had entered the window of a home. The female was identified as the wife of the male who was lying in the street. At the time of the incident the dog’s owners were not cited pending conclusion of the investigation.

When officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department make the difficult decision to use a firearm in order to protect themselves from an animal attack, they are guided by General Orders and Operating Policies.

General Order 720 states in partial that “Officers may use deadly force only to protect themselves or others from what the officers reasonably believe to be an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury”. “The killing of an animal is justified to prevent substantial harm to the officer or another person, or when the animal is so badly injured that humanity requires its relief from further suffering.”

It's enough to drive one to drink and lie down in the street.

 
___________________

Friends with three dogs—one a Pit Bull—euthanized the Pit Bull when it killed a much smaller pet. (Leaving them with just one pet dog).

I never trusted Pit Bulls before meeting this one.

Our dogs ARE kids.

Neighborhood outraged after officer shoots dog

http://www.wbtv.com/story/23507218/neighborhood-outraged-after-officer-shoots-dog

Posted: Sep 23, 2013 4:49 PM EDT Updated: Sep 23, 2013 9:19 PM EDT

Neighbors in Valdese are outraged after a police officer shot a well-known neighborhood dog.

Holly Woody went to the store Sunday night. When she got home, she saw cop cars surrounding her home.

"They said 'we had to shoot your dog,' and my son started crying," Woody told WBTV.

Police had received a report of a dog on the loose.

Woody was not there to witness the shooting, but several neighbors were.

Sydney Mason lives across the street from Woody. Mason tells WBTV there was no need for officers to use lethal force.

"There was no need for violence or a gun to be drawn. What was going on? What is happening? Why is there a nine millimeter or .38 being pulled in my small neighborhood of Valdese, where there are small children? What is going on because this is unnecessary force over a dog that hadn't bitten anybody," Mason said.

The dog that was shot had to be euthanized because of its injuries.

WBTV reached out to the Valdese Police Department for comment.

The Police Chief said his officers felt threatened by the dog. He declined an on-camera interview in case the Woody family decides to pursue legal action.

At this time, Woody does not think she will file a lawsuit.

The dog that was killed did not bite or injure anybody during the incident.

Don't call cops.


Woman says her 10-month-old puppy was shot in the head after asking officers not to shoot it… twice

Famous last words: "PLEASE don't shoot my dogs, they are my babies."

Posted on September 25, 2013

http://www.policestateusa.com/2013/woman-says-her-10-month-old-puppy-was-shot-in-the-head-after-asking-officers-not-to-shoot-it-twice/

JONES COUNTY, GA — A woman says that her ten-month old puppy was shot in the head after asking officers not to shoot it — twice.



On September 22, Anna “Chrissy” Music-Peed, of Macon, GA, drove to the Jones County Sheriff’s Department to request an officer come to and investigate a vehicle that had been brought to her property by an acquaintance, that both she and her roommate strongly suspected to have been stolen.

Music told policestateusa.com that it was a Nissan Xterra from Virginia Beach, VA. As Music wrote in a blog post, “I will not have that influence around my family,” saying she was trying to do the right thing by making a report. The acquaintance was still on the property and Music had not let on that she had gone to talk to the police.

Music wrote on that while she was providing officers with details of the stolen property, and the individual who had brought it over, she also explicitly told the police not to shoot her dogs. “The puppy may jump, we have been trying to get her out of that,” Music explained, stating that the dogs were friendly puppies. She said the officers laughed and told her not to worry about it. Unconvinced, she emphasized again: “PLEASE don’t shoot my dogs, they are my babies.”

The officers asked her to stay at the station while units were sent to her home to obtain the property and arrest the individual who may have stolen it. Her dogs, Ammo and Half-Pint, and roommate, Kyle Sewall, age 22, waited at home. Sewall gave his account in an exclusive interview with policestateusa.com. “I was waiting on officers to arrive, Ammo needed to go the bathroom and she had been whimpering for 15 minutes. So I gave in and let her out,” said Sewall. “The person who had stolen the property was outside cleaning the stolen vehicle with a shop-vac and while I kept an eye on Ammo I was talking to him playing it cool.”

He continued:

“About 5 minutes later is when the sheriffs pulled up, came flying in. Sgt Little was exiting the vehicle and as he was exiting I noticed he already had his sidearm trained on Ammo who was just sniffing around the ground wagging her tail. And then she looked up at him, did not growl, did not bark, and before I could say anything he fired his weapon. Shot her point blank in the head,” Sewall told policestateusa.com.

“I went to go rush toward Ammo and he trained his weapon on me,” Sewall explained. “I identified myself saying, ‘I am Kyle, lower your weapon.’ He did and they allowed me to tend to Ammo.”

Ammo, the 10-month-old pit bull / mastiff puppy, had been struck in the head with a .40 caliber slug, fired by Sergeant D. Little of the Jones County Sheriff’s Department. While Sewall tended to the wounded animal, officers investigated the vehicle and arrested the man who was in possession of it. Animal Control showed up and asked if Sewall wanted to euthanize the dog. Sewall declined. Some time later, Music returned to the home after being allowed to leave the sheriff’s office.

She found Sewall behind a kiddy pool with a strange look on his face. He was cradling her puppy in his arms. “They shot her,” Sewall said. Music asked Sgt. Little why he had shot her dog, after she had explained to him and other deputies that it was a friendly, harmless puppy, and explicitly had asked him not to shoot it.

Music says that Sgt. Little denied that she had told him this, but that an accompanying deputy confirmed her account. Rather than continue to argue she quickly scrambled to make emergency arrangements to have Ammo treated by a veterinarian on a Sunday. She found an animal hospital and got her dog X-rayed and bandaged up. The bullet had traveled down the dog’s skull into its neck, where it disappeared from the X-ray. She relayed on Facebook, “They said that Ammo NEEDS this surgery to survive. We need at LEAST $800.00 for the surgery.”

Music contacted Captain Mitchell of the Jones County Sheriff’s Department, whom she says told her that the dog was shot because it “charged at” Sgt. Little, which contradicts Sewall’s eyewitness account. It was only a year ago when Sgt. D. Little shot another dog in Jones County; an American Bulldog named Eden. “It is officers like Sgt. Little, who lack discipline and necessary training and firearm safety, that pose a threat to the very people that they swore and took an oath to protect,” Sewall told policestateusa.com. Ammo’s chances of survival depend on that surgery and the owner needs help in funding it. A link below provides an option for contributing to the funding of the surgery.