Cop shoots family dog in front of kids, Ohio family says. ‘You could have tased her’
An Ohio family says they’re heartbroken after a domestic dispute ended with an officer fatally shooting their dog, news outlets reported.
Police body camera footage, released by WKYC, shows the moment the Canton officer shot at the cane corso named Bella on Oct. 19.
“You just shot my dog,” a woman is heard screaming in video shared by WOIO.
Officers responded to the home after a man called 911 over a domestic dispute, WKYC reported.
“You either come here or I’ll be calling the coroner,” the 911 caller can be heard saying.
When police arrived, several people were outside the home, along with Bella, the family’s dog, according to WJW.
In the video, officers can be heard telling the woman to “get the dog inside,” before the dog is seen coming toward the officer wearing the body camera. Then, the officer shoots three times.
“He shot with my kids in the driveway and in the yard,” Amanda Bulick told the Canton Repository. “He didn’t have a spotlight. There’s a bullet that ricocheted off the cement driveway, or something, that had struck the back of my vehicle, which was behind me, and he also hit my house. There’s a bullet hole in my pillar on my front porch.”
Bulick told the news outlet her three children, ages 7, 9 and 12 are traumatized. She feels their safety was put at risk and police could have handled things differently.
“All of the officers were yelling different demands,” Bulick told the Canton Repository. “You had one officer yelling, ‘Get down.’ You had another officer yelling, ‘Put your hands up.’ You had the other officer yell, I guess, ‘Get your dog.’ They were all yelling. You don’t know what to do in that situation.”
Canton Police Chief John Gabbard released a statement to WJW after the shooting.
“We take the discharge of firearms by our officers very seriously. This incident is under review by our Office of Professional Standards, as is our practice with every instance when force is used. Unfortunately, police officers frequently have to respond to unpredictable, volatile situations and address threats of all kinds in order to preserve public safety,” the statement said.
But, Bulick feels there were other methods that could have been used.
“You can’t just go shooting with kids in the driveway,” she told WOIO. “You could have tased her, you could have pepper sprayed her.”
After Bella was shot, she “began bleeding profusely” and ran back inside the house, a police report said, according to WKYC. She soon died from her injuries.
“I have viewed the video and find it heartbreaking. The fact that these difficult situations are inherent in the nature of police work makes them no less devastating to everyone involved, including the officers,” the statement from Gabbard went on to say, according to WJW.
“She was the biggest, sweetest baby. She was a good girl. They (police) definitely did her dirty,” Bulick told the Repository.
No charges have been filed against anyone at the home, and the officer who fired the three shots at Bella remains on regular duty, the Repository reported.
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