I just reviewed the tape again and rewound it back about 20 times keeping an eye on different people in the clip and their reactions.
First thing that struck me was that in the grainy tape, the dog almost looked like a yellow lab jumping out of the car. It was a solid large dog, if not a tall one. As far as the size of the dog, keep in mind that as he approaches the camera, he is down in a ditch alongside the shoulder of the road. Look at him as he jumps from the car to get a better look at his size. Again, without a clear photo of the dog and a better description than a "Mixed-Breed Bulldog" we can not determine how much of a threat he was or wasn't.
Second, if you watch closely the two officer's cuffing the father do not react at all to the gunshot. The officer down low only reacts when the father reacts and the standing officer waits a split second longer.
The third thing I noticed was that if the shooting officer hadn't shot the dog, the cop standing next to him would have. He was reacting to a perceived threat by raising his weapon also.
The last thing I "hear" is what sounds like a growl cut short by the gun blast. I cannot say that is what I am actually hearing because there are other voices and road noise, it just sounds like that.
Another thing I noticed was that both the father and the mother (who was in the backseat) closed their doors without getting their heads blown off. The son (front passenger seat) didn't think to close his door. That is probably why the dog took so long to emerge from the car. He took a few seconds to realize the door was open and make his way up front to where he could get out. Please don't misunderstand, there are a number of things that were done wrong, by both family members and more significantly the police, that led to this. But after the dog gets out, I'm leaning toward the officer's acting in self-defence.
My problem with the police is that they acted on call from a citizen without any confirmation or evidence at all that a crime had been committed. I would think with what they had to go on they could have called the driver away from the car and explain to him why he was stopped. The episode would have ended right there. It's a shame.
I consider this to be a small dog. I have had 7 dogs in my life time. All were much larger than this dog.
Second, if you watch closely the two officer's cuffing the father do not react at all to the gunshot. The officer down low only reacts when the father reacts and the standing officer waits a split second longer.
I can guarantee you, when the officer pumped off that shotgun round, all those officers on the scene had a mental lightning bolt hit their brains. Everyone on the scene at that moment was in danger of multiple rounds being fired, The shotgun blast could have easily triggered a chain reaction. This has happened in the past, and will happen again. Once someone shoots, others are very likely to do the same. These people are lucky to be alive
I don't care how you chop it up, this looks pretty damn ugly. Innocent family, Mom, Dad and Kid, driving down highway minding their own business, gets pulled over, treated like hardened criminals, shotguns pointed at their faces, and their pet is blown away right in front of them.
There is something wrong here. Very wrong.....
Do you shoot every stray dog you run across that jogs up to you with its tail wagging, you know, for self-defence?
If I were half as itchy with a trigger finger as that LEO, there'd be a lot of dogs dead from my 'self-defence' tactics in my neighborhood. Strangely, after having caught and returned well over a dozen neighborhood strays, I've never felt like my life was threatened by any of them, even the twin 100 lb. boxer/bulldog mixes that got loose from my neighbor's yard.
Following your logic, there'd be dog carcasses all over the place.
The teenage son was being ordered at gunpoint to exit the vehicle. He was reasonably afraid that any surplus movement might result in getting shot. So that's his excuse for not closing the door. The officer who had his hand on the door as he looked into the car and commented that there was a dog inside, had absolutely no excuse whatsoever for not closing it.