Cop took just 3 seconds to shoot dog

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Thursday, January 9, 2003

[JohnHuang2]

The Tennessee policeman who shot and killed a family's dog during a terrorizing traffic stop took just three seconds to slay the animal after it jumped out its owners' car, reports the Cookeville Herald-Citizen.

Law-enforcement authorities released a videotape of the incident yesterday, which shows the three-second time frame on the tape's counter.

The Cookeville police officer who shot the dog, Eric Hall, has since been reassigned to administrative duties while the incident is probed.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the Smoak family was returning to their home in North Carolina on New Year's Day when three police cars swarmed their vehicle on Interstate 40 in what appeared to be a traffic stop.

The Smoaks appear on CNN

A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer broadcast orders over a bullhorn for driver James Smoak to toss the keys out of the car window, get out with his hands up and walk backwards to the rear of the car. Smoak obeyed and was subsequently ordered onto his knees and handcuffed at gunpoint. Officers similarly handcuffed his wife, Pamela, and their 17-year-old son with their guns drawn.

As the troopers were putting the family members inside the patrol car, one of the Smoak family dogs, a boxer-bulldog mix named Patton, came out of the car and headed toward one of the Cookeville officers who were assisting the THP troopers.

"That officer had a flashlight on his shotgun, and the dog was going toward that light, and the officer shot him, just blew his head off," Pamela Smoak told the Herald-Citizen. "We had begged them to shut the car doors so our dogs wouldn't get out, [but] they didn't do that."

The Smoaks had been pulled over by mistake after someone reported seeing the car getting on the highway with cash flying out from behind the vehicle. James Smoak, it turns out, had mistakenly left his wallet on the roof of the car when he stopped to get gas. Someone within the THP reportedly thought a robbery had occurred, though it turns out none had.

Hall claimed he was acting in self-defense.

"I yelled at the dog to get back, but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no option but to protect myself," the officer wrote in a police report.

Police Chief Bob Terry told the Herald-Citizen, "We are aware there is a lot of criticism out there over this incident, and we want to take [Hall] off the road and let him perform other duties while we get this all resolved." Terry stressed that Hall was not being punished for killing the dog.

The Herald-Citizen reports that "to an average viewer, the scene recorded on the video may not demonstrate the aggressiveness or the threat the officer said he experienced as the dog came toward him."

Terry said he will have two unrelated police agencies perform independent reviews of the incident.

"We once again extend our deepest concerns to the Smoak family for their loss," Terry said. "We know this was a terrible experience for them, and we truly wish that we could undo the events that occurred on the night of Jan. 1."

The Smoaks recently told their story on CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight."

Speaking of Patton, son Brandon Smoak told Chung, "He's the gentlest dog that I've ever been around. He's like Scooby Doo. He wasn't mean at all."

[error99]

There were an awful lot of apostrophi in your reply, but they all appear to be properly placed.

[johnny7]

They are now just municipal hacks...

If you remember this, you'll be OK.

Chandra Levy, Muhammad and Malvo come to mind.

Cops didn't find them... citizens did.

[OXENinFLA]

I yelled at the dog to get back, but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no option but to protect myself," the officer wrote in a police report.

What did the cop think the dog understood english?

How did the cop not see what was going to happen, the family sure did.

[error99]

If I had been handcuffed on the ground, surrounded by cops with guns drawn, and this shooting occurred, I would have instantly presumed that I was going to be "next". I would have feared for my life, just like the officer claims that he feared for his. I would have then responded according to my presumptions. So, had this been me, I would have probably ended up dead, as well. Luckily, for all, there was no small child that ran out of the car to "attack" the officer.

[Rifleman]

Way too pretty. Tommy Lee Jones maybe. I wish SOMEONE would do a movie about Bob Lee. Or his daddy.

[LibKill]

I watched the video. The dog did not appear to be attacking. It appeared to be friendly.

Maybe the triggerman is a weenie who is scared of anything bigger than a cat?

[DWSUWF]

"...But if it had been my dog, I would have cried and then comforted the cop and told him not to feel guilty..."

The lunacy of this statement is literally breathtaking.

It has to be poorly presented sarcasm.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Bob Lee's dog's name was Mike.
Hey, I've only read Point of Impact about 15 times...:)

[FreePaul]

"...the video may not demonstrate the aggressiveness or the threat the officer said he experienced as the dog came toward him."

I wonder if the video shows th "agressivenesss or the threat" to the family by these thugs acting as officers of the law? Sounds like "Good shooting" to the gunman, too bad one of the family didn't act up so we could have had more practice.

[Mulder]

Arresting police cannot predict a dog's behavior and will not take a chance of being attacked

And if Joe Q. Citizen had taken out his neighbors dog with a firearm, because he "couldn't take a chance of being attacked", what do you think the response of the JBT's would be?

[earplug]

So with the falling dollar, was the traffic stop and handcuffs used for littering? Or was it for falsly inpersonating a congressman buy tossing money around?
I care about the dog. But why was the traffic stop conducted as a take down.

[neutrino]

"I yelled at the dog to get back, but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no option but to protect myself," the officer wrote in a police report.

There, there officer Hall. As the American police state develops, I'm sure that you'll have many fine career opportunities.

Next time you see a sobbing 17 year old boy, who others might think is mourning his dog, you - being more perceptive than others - might be forced to defend yourself again. Won't that be fun?

/*****Sarcasm Mode OFF*****/

[Copernicus]

It will be interesting to see what happens now the Muddlestream Media has taken up the cause.

Mixed feelings here.

Best regards to all,

[eno_]

The more propaganda you see on TV for a profession or aspect of government, the worse it is in real life.

The current glut of cop shows indicates cops behave as if you took your average public sector employee, pumped him up on steroids and donuts, armed him, and gave him a fast car. And, oh yeah, the union would have to be even more powerful than the teachers' union.

This isn't an easy problem to reform, but a good first step would be to have a lot fewer laws and a lot fewer cops. Another good first step is to vote for referenda (somehow its never in front of the legislature) that strip cop shops and localities of ticket and siezure revenue.

[Politicalmom]

Uh, they were too LAZY to shut the car doors, and how many dogs do YOU know who understand "Get back"?

MY dog understands sit, lay down, stay....NOT "Get back!!".

[southland]

RE post 11: These people sure have a good case against the Jack Booted Thugs.

[eno_]

They have already done their part. Officer Hall will never get another police job even if he keeps his job in the Podunk PD where he works now. He will never make chief. The Internet will remember him forever, and everyone who loves their pets will sooner spit in his face than look at him.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

" Whatever, the possible danger to the cop was real."

So much for what you know about dogs. The dog's tail was up and wagging per the witnesses and the video. Dogs only attack when their tails are down. That cop was in more danger from shooting himself than that innocent family and their dog.

"Maybe you haven't seen dog bites that ripped off the lower lip of a child or large gapes in someone's arm, but I have."

Yes, and we've all heard but not seen about the sniper shooting Mrs. Weaver armed with a danerous loaded infant in her arms. What next, are you going to defend the Gestapo hauling Jews off to the camps?

" Drug dealers often train their dogs to attack and kill, so there was no way for the cop to know what he was facing."

God forbid he actually did his job and ask questions and do what the family requested and shut the *** damn door to the car. He was too busy flexing and playing with his toys.

"But if it had been my dog, I would have cried and then comforted the cop and told him not to feel guilty."

So if the cops kick the door in on your mother or grandmother's home at 3 a.m. on a no-knock raid and "accidently" shoot her even though they had the wrong address, are you going to "comfort the cop and tell him not to feel guilty" also?