Did you see the dog? Really not much of a threat. It might bite at you ankle but a swift kick and the dog runs off.
Here’s the response from the police chief:
“After the dog was released, the dynamics of this encounter changed. Officers, who for over three hours were focused on peacefully resolving this crisis through dialogue, were now forced to deal with the distraction and unpredictability of having the subject’s dog moving through the scene of this active encounter at a critical time,” Howell continued.