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.

[Darksheare]

Matt has no brain.
He's angry at anything smaller than him and doesn't like anyone to own anything that he isn't allowed to destroy.
But destroy something he owns....
We should probably ignore him, he's got all the wit and charm of an inebriated dinoflagellum.
Just look at all his previous 'moron guy' posts.
He has a problem answering questions.
Like when he stated that the vacationing family were thugs.
He was asked what supported that statement.
He has yet to answer.

[Swordmaker]

Where might we all see this unedited raw footage?

Here

Unedited Video Tape

[radioman]

Mayhem is the right thing?

Would you say the same if it was an eleven year old boy, like the one in California?

The man with the badge and gun should be not only courageous, but cool under pressure.

This officer demonstrated cowardly and rash judgement. This type of person should not be allowed to carry a deadly weapon.

He is a clear and present danger to all of us.

[gridlock]

So yeah, everything's just hunky-freakin'-dory, Mr. Gridlock.

I don't recall peeing in your Cheerios this morning, but if I did, I'm sorry.

My statement was that if the Police are in a mode where they are pulling a family out of a car and have them handcuffed on the ground, the dog is probably going to get shot. You can criticize the decision to go all JBT on this poor family, but once that decision is made, Rover's gonna buy the farm.

From what I have seen of this case, the decision to make an agressive stop like this was probably unwarranted, and the actions of the policemen were over-the-top. It is unfortunate, but the "control the situation" mentality is SOP for the police these days.

[matthew_the_brain]

Newsflash, Radio man, we are talking about an aggressive mongrel, not an 11 year old boy. This cop did the prudent thing, he subdued an aggressive dog, a weapon. Again, no big whoop, just go to the pound and get another one of these. They are a dime a dozen.

[matthew_the_brain]

Ad Hominem attacks....excellent debating skills, you must teach Debate at the public school.

[Darksheare]

Why don't you just answer the question, rather than proving your lack of brains?
IF you could answer the question, you'd have done so by now.
AND if you had a leg to stand on, you wouldn't insult and run like the troll you are.

Why don't you go back to the rock you came from, if you can't answer a SIMPLE question that a two year old could answer?

Or are on a lower level than that?

[Darksheare]

Once again, did you even BOTHER to watch the video?
Eyes don't lie.
That dog wasn't being agressive.
You, however, are being a moron.
So newsflash yourself and WATCH the VIDEO.
OR, hows abouts I goes and shoots your little wee doggie after stopping you on the road? How about reversing the situation and imagining being in the receiving end?
Or is that too much imagination for your inadiquate brain power?

[Darksheare]

"If he enters my private property, you better check him for pellets in the arse, cause he will for sure have a few."

"If Matthew_the_dim enters my property, you better check him for rock salt in his arse, cause he will for sure have a few."

I'm completely unimpressed with your posturing and your chest puffing. You are nothing more than in inflammatory hem'roid on the backside of this forum. If you had ANY sense, you'd debate things politely.
Instead, you're an insensate insulting trot who needs to be flushed.

[matthew_the_brain]

More namecalling? Is that all you have? Or did I hit a nerve and this is nothing but an excuse to cop bash.


Tsk, Tsk, Tsk.......

[matthew_the_brain]

Oh, you are 5'5''......well, that explains a lot.....I apologize for riling you up. You should really watch your hatred of police men.


They keep little people like you safe from the bad guys.

[johnny7]

matthew_the_brain... out of the car! Your boyfriend too!

Seems you don't know the lawr junior.

We have rules and regulations down here.

Why were those windows so steamy? Hmmmmm?

[Darksheare]

"I suppose your kind are the same group of people that believe that Mr Ed could actually talk.."
And you are in the sub intelligentsia clas, I suppose?

Are you going to answer the question like an intelligent person would?

[Darksheare]

Ah, you're back!.
I see I've struck a nerve with you.
You obviously don't like being identified as a troll.
Then prove your non-trollness by answering a few questions.
Or are you going to run away again after being inflammatory, as is your proven history on this thread?

Have you grown a brain yet?
Or are you gonna do that chest puffing again and state some more stupid stuff like "That newspaper columnist was sloppy......anti freeze and/ant poison works much better on mutts that continue to defile, defacate, and deface your property."
Now, where in the article did said dog do any of the above?
Or how about this one: "It was obviously an accident"
Tell me, how can one accidentaly aim and shoot a dog?
How about I accidentally shoot yours?
Or how about THIS brainy statement with NO backup proof whatsoever: "they be thugs for sure" and "instead of always siding with Fido and his thuggish owners"
Now, once again, where is your proof?

[Darksheare]

tsk, tsk, tsk..
Poor pathetic little man. Can't even answer a question without running away first.

[Darksheare]

"Can Ritalin kill a child? Samuel Blumenfeld on studies showing drug-induced brain shrinkage

Posted by matthew_the_brain to matthew_the_brain
On News/Activism 01/03/2003 8:44 AM PST #14 of 27

http://www.adhdfraud.org"

Talking to one's self is a sign of impending mental collapse.

[matthew_the_brain]

Wow, Dark, you little fellows must have lots of time to kill, researching the posts and all....are you unemployed?

I would think you would applaud what that cop did to that slavering bull dog who attacked him. I mean, a dog that size would have easily knocked a person of your size down with the first wag of his tail.

Run along now, munchkin.........I do not respond to ad hominem types of your stature.

By the way, Napoleon, calling someone a misanthrope is not namecalling.

[Darksheare]

Wow, Matt, you really can't answer a question to save your life, can you?
I will applaud the guy who shoots your dog.
Then we'll see just how much of a tough guy you are.
You see, you've got a problem, and you keep up the chest puffing and the gorilla like dust throwing like you're something.
Yet you don't back a word of it up.
Are you that inadequate that you have to make up for your lack of other things?
And, by the by, calling someone a misanthrope IS name calling.
Heel it in, mein freund.
Napoleon was 5 foot 2 inches tall, by the way. And he wasn't French. He merely served as a General in Artillery for them, starting out as a leftenant.

But, I'm sure you wouldn't know that since your brain is shriveled.
By the by, Hi NEWBIE since AUGUST.

[Darksheare]

"I do not respond to ad hominem types of your stature."

And you keep coming back anyway.
Hmm.. your words and your actions do not match, NEWBIE.
Get a life, or grow a brain.

[Darksheare]

"I do not respond to ad hominem types of your stature."
How about you GET SMART and answer the questions?
But, we ALL know you're a troll.
And trolls don't answer questions.