Man Shot After Shooting Police Dog: Family Outraged

Pittsburgh Tribune Review ^ | May 7, 2008 | Michael Hasch

[PittsburghAfterDark]

A Knoxville man shot and killed a Pittsburgh police dog Tuesday before the canine's handler returned fire, killing the man in what city police Chief Nate Harper called "an unfortunate" but justifiable action. The shooting outraged and angered the family of the 19-year-old man, Justin Jackson. He was pronounced dead by a passing paramedic almost immediately after the shooting that occurred at 6:53 p.m. in front of the UPMC facility on Arlington Avenue on the border of Knoxville and Mt. Oliver.

Harper said the dog's handler ordered the canine -- a 6-year-old German shepherd named Aulf -- to attack after Jackson pulled a gun from under his shirt. Both the officer, an eight-year-veteran Harper did not identify, and Jackson fired several shots, the chief said.

"They shot my son in the head. The officer told me, 'Our dog got shot so we shot him.' They killed my son over a dog," said Donald James Jackson of the West End.

"My 19-year-old son is lying there dead, shot in the head, execution-style. My son's brains are laying on the street. This is crazy. I'm going to do whatever I have to do, file charges against the officers, for my son. It's terrible, the mentality they have," Jackson said as he tried to comfort his wife.

"We are not going to let them get away with this!" Anna Jackson screamed. "They will pay for killing my son. They are going to pay for shooting my son over a dog!"

[glaseatr]

A lot of those dogs are not trained. They're along just for the show and threat value. Cops that'll sic their untrained dog on you will also let you lay there on the street bleeding to death from a hole in your throat.

Ace!, what are you smoking???. Do you have any clue how long it takes a dog to "hit the street"??

OMG.. wow..It's people like you, that makes people like me just shake our heads in total amazement at the intellectual prowess you posses.

[RachelFaith]

Uhm, so now yer a mind reader? Better take that tin hat back to ACME, it isn’t working. I’m no animal lover... I don’t even like dogs and might have shot it myself...

But then, like I said... if you pull a gun on a cop... well, that’s yer dice in yer hand... roll the bones.

[muawiyah]

Good grief, I live in the Wash DC metro area and we have so many of these "trained police dogs" around there's hardly anywhere they can shovel the poop when they get together on any sort of scene.

It's pretty obvious many of the dogs are being taken out just to familiarize them with flashing lights, crowds, and noise.

[Valpal1]

the dog's handler ordered the canine -- a 6-year-old German shepherd named Aulf -- to attack after Jackson pulled a gun from under his shirt.

It doesn't sound like the deceased was responding to an attack, but instead was instigating one.

I think someone who pulls out a gun in the presence of uniformed (and armed) police offers can expect to be shot at, irrespective of the presence of a dog.

Stupid is as stupid does.

[muawiyah]

Your problem is you still think the guy drew on the cops ~ which he didn't.

Taken before a jury he'd walked.

This cop is not going to walk unless he gets one of those New York judges who thinks a killer cop on the beat is a good way to warn the riff raff.

[glaseatr]

If...and that's a BIG IF...they are out on a familiarization trip, they are not on patrol with a partner. They NEVER would have been dispatched to this or any situation. PEROID, end of story.

Now you can go on thinking...whatever it is you think. I don't give a rats butt. I can tell you that all dogs that are on the streets are fully trained.

[Valpal1]

If the deceased had in fact recently fired his gun, then the police dog was able to smell the residue and may have in fact alerted his handler to it.

[dragnet2]

Tell ya what, call the cops and report a man with a gun or shots fired...Then go stand out there with your hand under your shirt when they pull up and when they tell ya to show your hands, refuse and see what happens.

Grab the phone, and try it. Do it now.

[Valpal1]

A police dog is able to detect the smell of many things. A recently fired gun is one of them. The dog may have given the handler an alert, which is probable cause in all 50 states.

[muawiyah]

Use your head. The same type of cop who'd take a perfectly good highly trained guard dog and use him to attack a guy with his hands in his pockets is the same sort of cop who'd bring a new, untrained dog out to see what it can do naturally. "Hey, Moe, ain't 'at a great dowag? Look'at them teeth".

You really have to see what the cops around here do someday ~ they're pretty typical of all cops too ~ must be over 50 different jurisdictional and special police piled up in a small area, and all of 'em with dogs.

[RachelFaith]

I’d walk the cop if I was on that Jury.

I’d pardon the Cop if I was the Governor.

I’d dismiss the suite of the “family” if I was a Judge.

And I’d post on FR if I was just a voice crying in the virtual wilderness.

[muawiyah]

Think that one through. If the guy had been firing his gun then you don’t want him to fire it again, right?

[muawiyah]

First an unarmed officer on a bicycle will make a quick drive-by.

We have an exceedingly low crime rate here.

[muawiyah]

There was apparantly a crowd/gathering, and in that neighborhood guns are quite likely common. You wouldn't want to start firing on the first guy the dog allerted on because, alas, he might well be a cop too.

Someone rushed in and made a mess here ~ you know that, right?

[2nd amendment mama]

Did you read the whole article? According to it:

Harper said the dog's handler and another officer, both in uniform, were driving on Arlington Avenue in a marked police car to respond to a report of shots fired when they spotted Justin Jackson. They stopped because they believed he was carrying a gun, the chief said.

"The suspect had his hand under his shirt. When the officer told him to show his hand, (Jackson) pulled out a gun," Harper said.

"The officer deployed his dog, and the dog did what it was trained to do. The dog was fatally wounded by the subject, and the officer fatally wounded the subject."

[muawiyah]

Exclusive of posting on FR, all the other actions would do nothing more than encourage disrespect for authority and the rule of law.

Last thing you want to do is to act so high-handed that you encourage vendetta.

[dragnet2]

All that crap don't matter If the deceased had in fact recently fired his gun, then the police dog was able to smell the residue and may have in fact alerted his handler to it.

All that crap don't matter. This below does.

___________________________________________________________

>>>Harper said the dog's handler and another officer, both in uniform, were driving on Arlington Avenue in a marked police car to respond to a report of shots fired when they spotted Justin Jackson. They stopped because they believed he was carrying a gun, the chief said.<<<

>>>"The suspect had his hand under his shirt. When the officer told him to show his hand, (Jackson) pulled out a gun," Harper said.<<

____________________________________________________________

The other poster shooting off their mouth should do this below:

Call the cops and report a man with a gun or shots fired...Then go stand out there with your hand under your shirt when they pull up and when they tell ya to show your hands, refuse and see what happens.

[Valpal1]

Someone rushed in and made a mess here ~ you know that, right?

I know that is your spin on the story. I think you're full of carp. You wanted to know what their probable cause was, it well may have been the dog. A dog alerting on a person is probable cause in all 50 states.

It was the deceased that refused to show empty hands and who fired first. Seems to me he's the one that made a mess. I wonder what the blood screens will show, cause I'm guessing the stupid little git was seriously messed up. Of course maybe he was just congenitally stupid.