Detroit police said they shot and killed a pitbull because its owner let go of its leash, making the cops fear for their lives.
But a video recorded by a witness shows the cops were tasering the dog’s owner as he was walking away, so they should have expected him to let go of the leash anyway.
The incident took place Tuesday evening when police responded to a call for a burglary and were informed the suspect had two active felony warrants.
The video shows the cops tasering the man but the tasers do not seem to affect him as he appears to pull the prongs off the seat of his pants while continuing to walk away.
The second cop then tasers him and appears to have connected but the man does not yell out in pain or fall to the ground as we normally see when people get tasered. But he does appear to be dazed as he stops walking and let’s go of the dog’s leash.
The dog then starts barking at the cops, not really charging but advancing in the way dogs do when protecting their territory or owner.
And that was when one of the cops fires seven times at the dog, causing it to run off and die a painful death in somebody’s yard.
According to Fox 2:
“The officers, when they got on scene, they informed him that he was going to be placed in custody for his two felony warrants,” said Cmdr. Arnold Williams. “He proceeded to walk away from officers. The officers did attempt to deploy Tasers twice and it appears one may have taken effect.”
Cmdr. Arnold Williams says that’s when the man, who was walking the dog, let go of the leash.
“From the officer’s body-worn camera it shows the dog barking at the officer, presenting aggressively, coming towards the officer and the officer firing shots at the dog as it’s coming towards him,” Williams said.
Williams says officers did everything in their power to avoid shooting the dog. He says they spent 20 minutes pleading with the man to secure it.
The man was then taken into custody on felony warrants aggravated assault and domestic violence.
