As family shrieks, police kill dog, Cooksville TN

Email ^ | 1/09/03 | FlyingA

[FlyingA]

As family shrieks, police kill dog Wednesday, January 8, 2003 Posted: 10:26 PM EST (0326 GMT)

COOKEVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Police video released Wednesday showed a North Carolina family kneeling and handcuffed, who shrieked as officers killed their dog -- which appeared to be playfully wagging its tail -- with a shotgun during a traffic stop.

The Smoak family was pulled over the evening of January 1 on Interstate 40 in eastern Tennessee by officers who mistakenly suspected them of a carjacking. An investigation showed James Smoak had simply left his wallet on the roof of his car at a gas station, and motorists who saw his money fly off the car as he drove away called police.

The family was driving through eastern Tennessee on their way home from a New Year's trip to Nashville. They told CNN they are in the process of retaining a lawyer and considering legal action against the Cookeville, Tennessee, Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol for what happened to them and their dog.

In the video, released by the THP, officers are heard ordering the family, one by one, to get out of their car with their hands up. James Smoak and his wife, Pamela, and 17-year-old son Brandon are ordered onto their knees and handcuffed.

"What did I do?" James Smoak asks the officers.

"Sir, inside information is that you was involved in some type of robbery in Davidson County," the unidentified officer says.

Smoak and his wife protest incredulously, telling the officers that they are from South Carolina and that their mother and father-in-law are traveling in another car alongside them.

The Smoaks told CNN that as they knelt, handcuffed, they pleaded with officers to close the doors of their car so their two dogs would not escape, but the officers did not heed them.

Pamela Smoak is seen on the tape looking up at an officer, telling him slowly, "That dog is not mean. He won't hurt you."

Her husband says, "I got a dog in the car. I don't want him to jump out."

The tape then shows the Smoak's medium-size brown dog romping on the shoulder of the Interstate, its tail wagging. As the family yells, the dog, named Patton, first heads away from the road, then quickly circles back toward the family.

An officer in a blue uniform aims his shotgun at the dog and fires at its head, killing it immediately. For several moments, all that is audible are shrieks as the family reacts to the shooting. James Smoak even stands up, but officers pull him back down.

"Y'all shot my dog! Y'all shot my dog!" James Smoak cries. "Oh my God! God Almighty!" "You shot my dog!" screams his wife, distraught and still handcuffed. "Why'd you kill our dog?" "Jesus, tell me, why did y'all shoot my dog?" James Smoak says.

The officers bring him to the patrol car, and the family calms down, but still they ask the officers for an explanation. One of them says Patton was "going after" the officer.

"No he wasn't, man," James Smoak says. "Y'all didn't have to kill the dog like that."

Brandon told CNN Patton, was playful and gentle -- "like Scooby-Doo" -- and may have simply gone after the beam of the flashlight as he often did at home, when Brandon and the dog would play. The Tennessee Department of Safety, which oversees the Highway Patrol, has said an investigation is under way.

Cookeville Police Chief Robert Terry released a statement on the department's Web site Wednesday night describing the department's regret over the incident.

"I know the officer wishes that circumstances could have been different so he could have prevented shooting the dog," Terry wrote. "It is never gratifying to have to put an animal down, especially a family pet, and the officer assures me that he never displayed any satisfaction in doing so." Terry said he and the vice-mayor of Cookeville met with the family before they left "to convey our deepest sympathies" for the loss of their dog.

"No one wants to experience this kind of thing, and it's very unfortunate that it occurred," he wrote. "If we had the benefit of hindsight, I'm sure some -- if not all of this -- could have been avoided. I believe the Tennessee Highway Patrol feels the same way."

The department is conducting an investigation to determine what, if anything, could have been done differently, he said. Police also plan to be in contact with the Smoak family, Terry said. The Smoaks buried their pet at home. A white cross marks the grave.

[Super Mak90kid]

This dog story is getting old. It was unfortunate but sure doesn't warrant all the press. What a bunch of whiny Monday morning quaterbacks Americans have become. I am grateful for our police officers and the abuse they suffer. Damned if they do and damned if they don't

You boot licking sicko! What abuse are you refering to? Like all of us 'peasents', cops should have to answer for any damage they cause. These cops should be brought up on several criminal charges.

[hoosierham]

change your screen name to with a brain AND not using it...
What we DON"T need is trigger-happy pet (private property) destroying cops.

[Republic of Texas]

I'm sure the bewildered dog understood exactly what was going on, so really it was the DOG'S fault for getting out of the car and trotting torwards the officer.

[gundog]

...but if you shot a cop dog, K-9, you would be prosecuted for killing a cop.

Never heard of that one being successfully prosecuted; if I'm mauled by a K-9 can I sue for police brutality? They don't understand "OK, I give up."

[gundog]

The worst you can get (to the best of my knowledge) is discharging a firearm in city limits,

" I swear, officer...right after he shot my dog, he pointed that gun at me..." Read that as assault with a deadly weapon...whether you did it, or not.:)

[gundog]

...With any potentially dangerous dog, you have to look them in they eye first...

Doggie faux pas Number 1...direct eye contact will be percieved as a claim to dominance...some dogs will make you prove it.

[gundog]

And I'll kill anybody who tries to harm my dog.

I wondered what happened to Inspector Harry Callahan. :)

[matthew_the_brain]

They can still have claims for all of those, irrespective of the 'property' that was destroyed. That cop deserves a medal, if a bull dog type breed ran at me in that manner, I would have killed it too.

[johnny7]

Cops had no fear here. Must have been a slow day.

Most police just look for speeders and stay out of harms way.

This cop wanted to try out his shotgun.

With a good lawyer, the Smoaks can take that town for every penny it has... and I hope they do!

[dtel]

Doggie faux pas Number 1...direct eye contact will be percieved as a claim to dominance...some dogs will make you prove it.

I disagree with you, by avoiding eye contact you tell the animal he is boss.
If you expect to be boss, the quickest way to establish this fact is through eye contact. Never back down from any animal. Period.

[dtel]

That cop deserves a medal, if a bull dog type breed ran at me in that manner, I would have killed it too.

Tough man aren't ya?
What if was a Golden Retriever tough guy, do you blow it away too?
Do you harbor a special fear of bull dogs or are you terrified of all dogs larger than a Chihuahua?

[Manic Panic]

As I have found out,a 13 yr. old kid can kill your dog,break into your house,pretty well do anything illegal he wants and get completely away with it.
As to the coffee table remark,you don't get your coffee table as a puppy ,feed it, paper train it, and generally get attached to it just to see someone shoot it in front of your eyes and expect you to take it calmly.It isn't a question of whether the dog did something to deserve being shot.It is the moment.Once life is lost, being sorry or a paid vacation isn't going to bring back the dog,or erase the memory of the un-thinkable act.Neither is exonerating the officer in question by an "internal" investigation that will certainly find him innocent.As private citizens we are accountable for our mistakes.I think that the cops and the cellphone caller should be held accountable for this,however un-intended, terroristic and horrific act.

[gundog]

Original post stipulated a "potentially dangerous dog"...I've had better luck avoiding eye contact and easing out of doggie's territory. As I said, you can "tell" an animal who is boss...not all of them will take your word for it; some insist that you earn dominance, and that can be a real bitch.

[dtel]

All dogs are "potentially dangerous", hell anything with teeth and claws is "potentially dangerous".
Get a stick, stand your ground. Be a meaner dog than they are, works every freakin' time.

[Chemnitz]

If we isolate the issue of an officer shooting a dog coming at him, I agree. However, this situation was created by the police force. The dispatcher created a hyped up situation. The officers could easily have stopped the car, approached it with caution, and asked the occupants what they were doing, how the money flew out of the car. I believe everyone would have had a laugh over a wallet on the roof leading to a bank robbery report.

Once my wife said the people at the motel were acting really weird. The cleaning women were on break and holding pop cans on their heads. She said, "Look at them. They are laughing and putting cans over their heads." I said, "Did you leave your Coke on the roof of the car?" She said, "Oh."

I am not a lawyer but I do not see any excuse for the police treating the family they way they did. As we saw before with the DC snipers, it is possible to rough up people and arrest the wrong people based on misleading facts. The police decided it was a white van so everyone in a white van was guilty.

By the way, I am on the side of police enforcement. I would never want to be one. However, they should know their limits.

[Alpha One]

Doggie faux pas Number 1...direct eye contact will be percieved as a claim to dominance...some dogs will make you prove it.

I always make sure I speak reassuringly to the dog at the same time. It's always worked for me, and I've been able to approach dogs that most people would rather not be near.

[Slainte]

I said, "Did you leave your Coke on the roof of the car?"

Thank goodness you didn't have the 911 caller in this case anywhere near you. Can you imagine the reaction of the TN Highway Patrol and the Cookeville Police if the caller had reported COKE flying all over the road?

[Consort]

The dog was murdered. The family was traumatized. The police over-reacted. The family did not fit a hostile profile. The family will never completely get over this and the police shouldn't either. The story is being posted over and over because it touches something inside of us. The police were wrong.

[Chemnitz]

No kidding.

Leaving something on the roof is a common problem. I tried a McDonald's Shamrock shake and put it on the roof of the car. I realized my mistake when I saw it in the rear view mirror, hitting the road. My friend left his appointment book on the roof of his car. He never found it.

[Darksheare]

You still haven't answered the question: WHERE do you get that the vacationing family are THUGGISH?

Where in that pea sized brain of yours do you get that?
AND WHAT IS YOUR SUPPORTING EVIDENCE?
Lacking that, you are an ignorant inflammatory moron who is here only to get people angry at you. Go elsewhere, troll.