Attempted doggycide in Kingman, Arizona

Blue the pit-bull

Same story as ever, except that the cops actually waited before shooting at the reportedly non-aggressive household pet rather than gun the animal down on-sight as is habitual in these cases:

The Mohave County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Deputy Jeff Davis shot a 2-year-old red-nosed pit bull after authorities went to a house in north Kingman Sept. 2 looking for two individuals.

The owner of the pit bull, Jessie Holliday, 27, said several deputies knocked on his door in the 3600 block of Canary Lane around 9:45 p.m. The deputies were reportedly looking for two men named Ken and Eddie.

Holliday said he has lived in his home for around two years and didn't know anyone by those names. While Holliday was explaining this to one of the deputies on the porch, he said his dog, Blue, pushed past him out the front door.

Holliday said Blue had started barking when the deputies arrived but was not aggressive with them. He said he told them that his dog didn't bite before he went inside to retrieve his identification at the request of one of the deputies. He said that at that point, his communication with the deputies was friendly and non-confrontational and that they didn't seem fazed by the dog. He said one deputy didn't even look at the dog as he walked out passed him.

Holliday said he was inside when he heard a loud pop, followed by a yelp. When he went outside, he said he found Blue frantically running around the yard with a gunshot wound to the his front right leg.

Of course, cue the usual excuses:

The neighbor said the dog "casually" walked passed several deputies before being shot.

"There was no reason, it was just that quick," he said.

The neighbor said the dog was surrounded by people when he was shot.

"That's what really bothered me, the way the officer did it. He fired right into a group of people," he said.

The neighbor's account contradicts reports from the deputies on the scene, including the sergeant in charge, who wrote in her report that the dog ran toward Davis in a "charging and aggressive manner."

Capt. Greg Smith said Davis wrote in his report that the dog ran to the west side of the yard before running toward him "at a full-blown sprint." He said it was at that point he pulled his gun from its holster and fired once at the dog.

The neighbor said that after the shooting, he overheard one deputy tell the deputy who shot the dog to "go sit in your cruiser and keep your mouth shut."

Yeah, man, don’t you dare say anything that could compromise our ass-covering lies.

For a change, the dog lived, though owner Holliday was saddled with the $1,400 vet bill. Coincidentally, the deputy who shot Blue, Jeff Davis, was responsible for a fatal (human) shooting just two nights later.

(via The Agitator)

Tags: Jeff Davis • Jessie Holliday • Kingman, AZ