Police Shoot Dog In Front Of Family

WFSB Eyewitness3 News ^ | December 21, 2006 | WFSB

[FreedomCalls]

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Police shot a man's dog in front of his daughter on Wednesday night.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Jamie Roth reported Hartford police officers shot a St. Bernard by the front door of Glen Harris' home. ...

Harris claimed it all began when officers unexpectedly showed up in the yard. ...

"They didn't knock. They ignored the sign, the dog sees or hears (and) protects my daughter, so he ran toward him -- not growling, not foaming at the mouth, not anything," Harris said.

Police told Eyewitness News the officers were investigating a complaint about guns when the dog charged them. Two officers said they ran to the street and that the dog lunged at the second officers, who fired three shots.

Harris said his daughter saw the whole thing.

"While she's running toward the dog, they kill him. She's yelling, 'Why'd you shoot him? I was going to get him. Why'd you shoot him?'" Harris said.

Police continue to investigate the incident. The police report in the incident does not list any guns found at the Harris home and no one was arrested.

[Gaffer]

....drawing transparent preconceived anti-cop conclusions about it, OK?

Why are you so quick to come to the defense of a 'government' organization? Last time I checked, police were part of government. Is it because they "protect" us? Did they protect the girl? Did they protect the neighbors from GUNs (oooohhh, shiver...)?

Cops are people and make mistakes. Unfortunately, the police ranks are filled with immature males that need some aging to ripen. They are capable, fit, and have a good head on their shoulders, but the macho instinct can often lead to things like this. These people are lucky they don't live in Atlanta w here they shoot 88 year old women and then try to cover it up...

[gopheraj]

Hey. I'll make you a realllllllllllllllllly good deal. I've got to get back to Texas and spoil grandbabies. LOLL

[NCLaw441]

I never said any of that was illegal. Lighten up Francis. I was responding about whether this dog was aggressive or not. Some said it was not. My point was that the owners thought the dog was aggressive, hence the sign. I didn't say anything about the legality of any of this. I have not stated any opinion about whether what the police did was wrong or not.

You owe me an apology.

[ZULU]

"Police continue to investigate the incident. The police report in the incident does not list any guns found at the Harris home and no one was arrested."

And they will CONTINUE to "investigate" until the whole matter is forgotten.

Cops are OUT OF CONTROL. The guns in my house are safer than the guns on their hips.

They are underworked, arrogant, overpaid, overbenefitted, and worse than useless.

What about that cop who ran a stop sign at full speed in south Jersey instantly killing two sisters - the only children of some poor woman. He wasn't responding to a call. He wasn't arrested. He was sent to the hospital and put on desk duty while the case is being "investigated". What about the young black man blown away by 50 bullets in New York for WHAT?? The shooters were undercover cops and didn't even have uniforms. How the heck would he know who they were? He was just trying to drive away.

Right now the N.Y. P.B/A/ is running commercials on the radio asking New Yorkers not to "pre-judge" the cops who killed that man and left his fiance with a dead man the night before his wedding. They are giving a running report of the police shooters' great prior records.

Next time your stopped for a speeding ticket or moving violation, try telling the cop who is giving you a ticket about all the times you were a great driver.

Remember who cops work for: themselves and the judges - not us.

[HairOfTheDog]

Because I try to read articles critically for facts, not just the spin the writer wants me to take. And because when we give cops a ~duty~ to go out and enforce law in places that aren't always safe and aren't always pleasant, we owe them some measure of respect and benefit of the doubt. Cops don't get up in the morning and decide to go kill some girl's dog, they're put in difficult situations sometimes. This writer is spinning it for sure, but even through that, I could see a lot of room for the officers having a different perspective than this family on what happened.

[Artemis Webb]

I owe you nothing.

If the officers go onto a fenced property with a beware of dog sign displayed are they to expect the dog will sit on the opposite end of the yard and wag it's tail?

[rbmillerjr]

"What about the young black man blown away by 50 bullets in New York for WHAT??"

Oh you mean the young black man with an arrest record the size of a novel. The cops in that situation were attempting to stop a shootout that was developing in the club. The idiot Darwin award driver tried to run the cops over. They had every right to defend themselves.

[lesser_satan]

To deter criminal scum would be my guess.

[UpAllNight]

Is it illegal to own a dog?

Is it illegal to have a "beware of dog" sign?

Is it illegal to have a "beware of dog" sign regardless of the danger or lack of danger the dog might impose?

---

Was it illegal to have the dog off the leash?

[lesser_satan]

Unfortunately, the police ranks are filled with immature males that need some aging to ripen.

I'll bet you dollars to donuts that there were far, far fewer problems like this back in the days when the vast majority of cops came out of the military.

[lesser_satan]

Holy crap, 91 acres for $250K? That's a hell of a deal!

[Artemis Webb]

The dog was in a fenced yard. There is no place in America where a dog in a private fenced yard is required to be on a leash.

[UpAllNight]

--The dog was in a fenced yard.--

I think the "fence" is a myth perpetuated by you. It is not in the article but referenced in several of your posts.

[ZULU]

No sign of a gun anywhere. The guy they shot was an innocent bystander.

They were undercover cops and nobody was in any danger of being shot - except the public.

I believe undercover cops are not supposed to shoot unless there is imminenet danger to themselves or others since, as undercover cops, noboy really knows who they REALLY are. They should have called for uniformed back-up.

They didn't.

No guns.

A dead civilian who was driving away from a bunch of guys shooting at him and no reason for it.

By the way, pal, I'm not black - despite the name ZULU - I'm a lily white conservative who has had it with the cops behaving like der Polizei in the United States.

[UpAllNight]

--The guy they shot was an innocent bystander.--

Uh Huh ....

---

The spray of bullets hit the car 21 times, after the vehicle rammed into an undercover officer and then an unmarked NYPD minivan twice, police said. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly would not say if the collisions were what prompted police to open fire.

It was too early to say whether the shooting was justified, Kelly said. (Watch questions raised by groom's shooting )

Police thought one of the men in the car might have had a gun. But police found no weapons.

"Although it is too early to draw conclusions about this morning's shootings ... we know that the NYPD officers on the scene had reason to believe that an altercation involving a firearm was about to happen and were trying to stop it," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.

Kelly said the incident stemmed from an undercover operation inside the strip club. Seven officers in plain clothes were investigating the Kalua Cabaret, and five were involved in the shooting. The gunfire also hit nearby homes and a train station, though no residents were injured.

A veteran officer fired his weapon 31 times, emptying two full magazines, Kelly said. All the officers carried 9 mm handguns.

The groom, who was driving, was identified as Sean Bell, 23. Joseph Guzman, 31, was in the front seat and was shot at least 11 times. Trent Benefield, 23, who was in the back seat, was hit three times. Both men were taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital. Guzman was listed in critical condition and Benefield was in stable condition.

Kelly said there may have been a fourth person in the car who fled the scene.

Three officers, including the officer hit by the car, were treated and released. Another detective remained hospitalized for blood pressure, Kelly said.

Abraham Kamara, 38, who lives a few blocks from the club, said he was getting ready for work at about 4 a.m. when he heard bursts of gunfire.

"First it was like four shots," he said. "And then it was like pop-pop-pop like 12 times."

A grand jury was investigating the incident. Kelly said none of the five veteran officers had ever discharged their weapons in the line of duty. He has not been able to interview the officers because the district attorney must first complete an investigation, he said.

The undercover officers were inside the club to document illicit activity, Kelly said. With one more violation the club would be shut down, Kelly said.

He said the establishment has a "chronic history of narcotics, prostitution and weapons complaints."

[ZULU]

"The spray of bullets hit the car 21 times, after the vehicle rammed into an undercover officer and then an unmarked NYPD minivan twice, police said. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly would not say if the collisions were what prompted police to open fire. "

Let me see.

A car driven by a guy who had no weapon and had several other guys in it, tried to ram an undercover cop for no reason outside a nightclub.

Thereupon said undercover cop pulled out his weapon, was joined by his buddies and fired 50 shots killing the driver and wounding all the occupants except one who allegedly escaped and no gun was found.

Do you want to buy a bridge? They have this great one in Brooklyn I can sell you cheap.

[BJClinton]

The police report in the incident does not list any guns found at the Harris home

If they had guns the dog might still be alive...

[gopheraj]

LOLL Yeah. buy me out. LOLL

[UpAllNight]

--A dead civilian who was driving away from a bunch of guys shooting at him and no reason for it. --

Do you want to buy a bridge? They have this great one in Brooklyn I can sell you cheap.

[ZULU]

No, that's MY bridge.
I guess we will have to see how this plays out.

I just hope that @$$hole Sharpeton and his sidekick the "Reverand" Jackson stay out of this. But then nobody can ever understand what Jackson is saying anyway.