Posted on 05/07/2008 6:09:50 AM PDT by 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!"
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
So I take if you were hassled by Philly cops, you are out east, am I right?
Do you 'know' Pittsburgh's neighborhoods and not the 'North Shore' or Golden Triangle shots from Steeler games? There are pretty bad parts of town...Knoxville being one. If you are in the eastern part of the state you also wouldn't 'know' that a number of kids (12 and 13 year olds) have been killed in this area recently in gunplay...gangbangers just shooting up a house or street for whatever reason. Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs have a 'Gang Task Force' to try and bust the gangs and clean up neighborhoods like Knoxville. So into the mix you add what happened in the wee small hours of today...and, of course, the police would be wrong. Maybe it will come out (and I am guessing it will) that not only does Jackson have a rap sheet (already noted) but that he also is a member of one of these gangs (and probably 'known' to the Pgh Police). But again...they were wrong to consider him a (how do they put it) 'person of interest' in the original 'gunplay' that brought them out on the call.
Okay...then please understand that I am GLAD this was a thug and not an innocent civilian. Please understand that I am sad that the dog was killed. Please understand that the officers might VERY WELL been right. Please understand that most of all, I am glad they are safe.
But also understand that it is every citizen’s duty to remain vigilant to ensure that government force is employed appropriately.
Then I think we agree.
= )
Now, let's ask on what basis the cops then directed the dog to attack?
They say the guy had a gun. Others present on the scene say he pulled the gun out AFTER the dog was ordered to attack him.
If the cops had no justification for ordering the attack, then the man's actions were justifiable self-defense. If the cops had a justification for ordering the attack (e.g. guy has gun), then we have to ask how well trained they were to to have ordered their expensive unarmed dog to attack an armed man instead of shooting or threatening to shoot him themselves.
The conclusion is that the cops acted unlawfully, or they acted inproperly ~ I don't think they are winning this one.
It's much better for the cops if the dog just leaps out on its own and attacks the guy. Then it's all an Act of God and just one of those things.
Wow...the race card. Please save it...no doubt Al and Jesse will be in the Burgh soon to play this for all its worth. Remember PA went for Clinton...
I always imagine these guys as being Chinese, and try to evaluate the evidence in terms of who is trying to save face ~ which seems to be a characteristic Chinese (in general) and American cops and gang members have in common (the need to develop the polite lie that absolves one of blame).
You are leaping to conclusions ~ a report of a “stolen gun” doesn’t always mean it’s “stolen” ~ frequently it’s merely been sold to someone else.
No way! I'd say very rarely, when you consider how many police there are, how many hours they are on the job and interacting with the public...heck, IMO, they do a WONDERFUL job, in general!!!
So I take if you were hassled by Philly cops, you are out east, am I right?
Actually, I was hassled by Philly cops in Atlanta at the Olympics, when they took a liking to a souvenir of mine that they felt I should "donate" to them...and were suprised at my refusal, one of them telling me "We're not used to people telling us 'No'."
Do you 'know' Pittsburgh's neighborhoods and not the 'North Shore' or Golden Triangle shots from Steeler games?
Never watch the Steelers games. :-) are pretty bad parts of town...
Yes, and I've been very lucky in my noctural wanderings. I'll credit the IC Light for the invulnerability. :-)
...wee small hours of today...
My, times have changed... I didn't know that 6:53 pm holds that distinction now!
and, of course, the police would be wrong
That's all I'm saying. Based on the initial story and the chief's earlier words, it was a very distict possibility.
That's really not a good answer you know ~
In perfect order, never having been used...........
:-) :-)
Oh brother, yes we can say he did it in a threatening way. At least from where I sit, because I am able to think and reason.
The dog was released when the gun was brought out and Mr. Jackson shot Aulf with it. Do you know how fast a dog is? Do you know how fast a highly trained and alert and ready police dog is?
Mr. Jackson had his finger on the trigger from the get go and intended to use it or Aulf and Mr. Jackson would still be alive because Aulf would have held (bitten down and not released) his gun arm until ordered to release.
Had Mr. Jackson been holding the gun in a non threatening manner, say with just a pinky through the trigger guard or dropped it immediately, Aulf would be alive and so would Mr. Jackson. Had Mr. Jackson’s intentions been anything other than criminally stupid, he’d be alive to sue the department for medical costs and pain and suffering.
Aulf died a hero’s death as an officer, trying to save a dipstick from his own stupidity and in defense of his fellow officers.
Sorry, I simply disagree. Throwing my arms in front of my face, wetting my pants and cowering close to the ground are all possibilities. Pulling out a gun and shooting the dog while policemen are standing nearby is not.
Is "instinct" always ok? My otherwise-extremely-law-abiding-mother has run away from police trying to pull her over for traffic violations TWICE. She has no real explanation for it herself other than panic. We've all told her that if she gets killed in a high speed chase with the cops, we're calling a press conference to apologize to the people whose lives she risked and to explain that she's just a bozo.
He'll keep doing this until he has a water-tight version that can satisfy a judge (like the guy in New York who cut the cops loose in the "bridegroom murder").
Not surprising to find they have PC like this in Pittsburgh. Just another one of the reasons why the place is slipping back into the slimepits.
He shot the dog. Did the police ask him to shoot the dog?
So he shot a dog. It’s a dog. Let’s get through the issue of misuse of the dog first. The trial lawyers handling this case for the family are definitely going to challenge that.
I'd like to know how many of the cops on this run were part of the PA NG ~ and where did they serve ~ and did they get honorable discharges.
The only think that'd get through their brains was "gun" ~ nothing regarding intent to use, lay down, toss away, or whatever.
It's dangerous to tell the cops you have a gun, or that you don't have a gun, or even use the word "gun".
Wow...sometimes I think I can't be surprised again...and then it happens. So in one, broad brush stroke you impugn police in Pittsburgh, in all of Pennsylvania, the National Guard, and all guards who were at Abu Gharaib. So now, let me get the score card right here...any law enforcement in any way associated with Pennsylvania are rogues...routinely siccing attack dogs on helpless citizens (and the occasional terrorist suspect). OH MY G-D!!!!!!!
But, PennylvaniaMom, my purpose in using that pic didn't have anything to do with race, which didn't cross my mind. Police dogs have been used by white officers against innocent whites, too, but I don't imagine I could find as famous a pic as the one I posted.
And for some fun other stories...
Ken Rogers of Washougal, Washington, was enjoying a visit with family in Kennewick and looking forward to some fishing when his slumber was rudely disturbed on the night of July 13, 2003.or
Rogers, a 54-year-old regional sales manager for Georgia-Pacific, was sleeping under the stars when a large dog suddenly vaulted over a wooden fence and sank its teeth into his left arm. Shocked and disoriented in the darkness, and not wearing his eyeglasses, Rogers struggled desperately to free himself from the dog, to no avail.
A voice from the other side of the fence informed Rogers that the dog was the property of the Kennewick Police Department's K-9 Unit. “Stop fighting the dog and I will release him,” yelled Officer Bradley Kohn. Rogers, understandably, wasn't content to wait, and started punching the police dog -- later identified as “Deke” -- in the head.
Officer Kohn, along with Officer Ryan Bonnalie, tore down part of the fence. The two of them, along with Deputy Jeff Quackenbush, “entered the backyard and subdued Rogers,” as the excessively decorous language of a legal appeal filed by the officers describes the incident.
Officer Mathis was on patrol in the area and had stopped in an area behind the Jefferson Ave. Church of Christ around 3 a.m. Friday to allow the dog to relieve itself.And, of course, there was the case in Johnstown a couple years ago that should remind the officers in Pgh of the requirements with police dogs.
A noise from a nearby business area apparently caught the dog's attention, and the dog ran to that area and attacked a man who was doing nothing wrong, Capt. Randy Evans said.
That man was an employee of The Library, a bar located near the Goodwill store, and he was taking trash out to a garbage bin behind the business when the dog came bounding up and attacked him.
Officer Mathis ran after the dog and called him off, but was unable to prevent the attack.
Finally, you might be interested in a page about legal issues with police dogs and their bites.
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