Texas LEO shoots family dog at wrong address

[mojo84]

When it's someone in the general public that does something like this, it's considered negligence and held accountable.

Did other cops show up and disarm the cop that shot the dog? When a mere "citizen" shoots a dog on the citizen's own property, cops show up and attempt to disarm the property owner and then shoot him when he doesn't mind.

I even noticed someone said a couple days ago that instructions from a dispatcher isn't considered a legal command of a police officer. So let's not use that to say it was the fault of the citizen for not disarming at the dispatchers instructions.

Just some food for thought.

[VMI77]

The problem seems to be that government employees make mistakes quite often but are almost never made to suffer a disadvantage for them. Everyone in private life suffers when they screw up. The legal principle used to be that "the king could do no wrong" when these days the king often can't do right.

When Tom Brady throws an interception half the people stand up and boo and everyone in New England. When a McDonald's clerk puts the wrong sandwich in the bag someone complains and it is made right. When some SWAT team serves a no-knock warrant on the wrong house and shoots the terrified, innocent occupants, "no blame to the officers" an innocent regrettable error.

I think LEOs get a great deal of scrutiny.

Now that I'm in industrial sales, my supervisor doesn't field many calls about me changing lanes without a blinker or not wearing my seatbelt. There is no shortage of people willing to BOOO at cops.

Apples and oranges --and you an engineer. Petty people reporting cops for violating traffic laws does not equal consequences for serious unlawful behavior --and they also can't issue cops tickets for doing the same thing the cop could give them a ticket for. And people willing to BOOO at cops have no power to punish them for misbehavior or negligence --they're talking in the wind.

[SewTexas]

I still want to know....

1) why were Leander cops involved in going to Cedar Park OR Liberty Hill?
2) shouldn't the warrant have been followed rather than going to the database?

[philip964]

My dog is a member of the family. He does not react well with strangers in uniforms. The big event in his day is tearing up the mail that drops though the slot in the door from his archenemy, the postman.

My dog is small enough that we pick him up all the time. Should I have any warning a police officer was around, the dog would be immediately picked up to protect it from the police officer. Risking my life to protect my dog would not be a thing I would even think twice about.

However, In this and the many other similar dog shooting situations, the owner is given no warning of the event, as it is usually a police officer at a wrong address and the police officer suddenly enters the dog's territory by opening gates, entering into backyards, etc.

BTW strange babies have placed their hands inside the mouth of my dog on numerous occasions and although this may have scared the parents of the baby, I am not concerned at all that he would ever bite the babies hand or fingers.

[EEllis]

Wow some strange responses.

[talltex]

The problem seems to be that government employees make mistakes quite often but are almost never made to suffer a disadvantage for them. Everyone in private life suffers when they screw up.
When some SWAT team serves a no-knock warrant on the wrong house and shoots the terrified, innocent occupants, "no blame to the officers" an innocent regrettable error.

I think LEOs get a great deal of scrutiny.

Now that I'm in industrial sales, my supervisor doesn't field many calls about me changing lanes without a blinker or not wearing my seatbelt. There is no shortage of people willing to BOOO at cops.

I don't understand your "scrutiny" comment...this isn't about scrutiny of LEO's...it's about all the incidents (that seem to be occurring more and more frequently) in which an LEO, whether due to negligence, poor judgment, poor attitude, or just a general disregard for everyone who's not an LEO's rights, result in animals and people getting shot on private property by officers, who made a mistake that CAUSED it to happen and don't suffer the consequences that anyone else would be subject to. People are tired of the constant refrain of hearing these screw ups brushed over as an "unfortunate incident" or "tragic accident" when the same behavior by anyone but an LEO would have them in jail. Most of the time, the department involved won't even acknowledge any wrongdoing...in this case the departments statement was that "we are trained to fire until the threat is stopped"...no apology, no admission of any fault or that there was a 6 year old child in the yard at the time the shooting occurred. All over an expired registration citation that had nothing to do with the people living there. It's the same justification every time....officer feared for his safety...even though they were serving a warrant or investigating a burglar alarm or doing a "no knock" raid at the WRONG PLACE.

[E.Marquez]

) Had the officer had the right address, no one would have questioned shooting the dog. Therefore, shooting a dog is itself not the problem here, but the mistake that led to this whole screw-up is.

Not true at all.. I would still , do still have a problem with an un/under trained law enforcement officer that shoots a dog that was contained on it's owners property.

Shooting the dog IS THE ISSUE, it just so happens though his or the issuing courts negligence the event was even possible.

[Pacifist]

Since you selected a particular part of my comment I wasn't sure if your first sentence was referring to my comment or to the incident under discussion.

The incident.

The second sentence was my mostly (but "mostly" only because dogs have no pockets in which to carry their CHLs) tongue-in-cheek solution to evening a bit what seem to be overwhelmingly lopsided odds, but I like the solutions in your photos just fine.

[RX8er]

Another prime example of a double standard.

Now I creep back in to the silence to see how this one is defended to the death of being okay or that we don't have all the facts to formulate an opinion. /sarcasm off

[The Annoyed Man]

IBTL

[mojo84]

The cop was at the wrong house, entered a private gated area and then shot an approaching dog. What else do we need to know?

I would like to know if other cops came and disarmed him like a criminal.

[EEllis]

The cop was at the wrong house, entered a private gated area and then shot an approaching dog. What else do we need to know?

I would like to know if other cops came and disarmed him like a criminal.

Was the property locked or posted? Because it could of been a girl scout coming to sell cookies and ending up mauled. The cop wasn't making a raid on the place or sneaking in he just walked up to the front door to ask about a person that a database said might have some connection to that address. Why would cops disarm him? They know who he is.

[mojo84]

The cop was at the wrong house, entered a private gated area and then shot an approaching dog. What else do we need to know?

I would like to know if other cops came and disarmed him like a criminal.

Was the property locked or posted? Because it could of been a girl scout coming to sell cookies and ending up mauled. The cop wasn't making a raid on the place or sneaking in he just walked up to the front door to ask about a person that a database said might have some connection to that address. Why would cops disarm him? They know who he is.

It's quite apparent you enjoy arguing for the sake of arguing and you always seem to argue the mere citizen is in the wrong and the cop is in the right. It wasn't a little girl. It doesn't matter if the gate was locked or posted. I'm suspect the cop isn't the first person to encounter the dog but it appears he's the first one to shoot it. Bottom line, the cop was at the wrong place and shot the dog.

I'm not going to argue nor debate this with you. I'll read and consider your opinions but arguing with you is just a waste of my time.

[RottenApple]

Was the property locked or posted? Because it could of been a girl scout coming to sell cookies and ending up mauled.

Then she was entering gated (doesn't matter if its locked or not) private property and was trespassing.

[jimlongley]

My dog will charge (gleefully, but it's hard to tell the difference) barking right to withing feet, and then she will hunker down and kowtow, soliciting petting and making a pest of herself. My wife's dogs will follow, making a racket, but most of them won't approach unless they are invited.

As a retired telephone man I have dealt with a LOT of dogs over mt career, and been bitten a few times too (13 lifetime), and except for one specific circumstance I can't imagine responding by shooting the dog.

It bothers me that the officer was 14 miles away from where he should have been serving the warrant.

It bothers me that the officer appears to me to not have spent an adequate amount of time at the front door.

And it bothers me that he shot three times, and only hit once, and yet the threat seems to have been reduced. Did the dogs turn and run and he stopped shooting? Did he realize his mistake and that's why he stopped shooting?

There is so much more that we don't know.

And yet I still feel that he should be held responsible, and his department.