'It Wasn't Justified': Baltimore Police Officer Fatally Shoots Dog He Says Bit Him; Owner Has Questions
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore police are investigating after an officer shot and killed a dog he said bit him.
Officers were at the 1800 block of Casadel Avenue in southwest Baltimore when a dog bit the officer, police said.
Neighbors and the dog's owner, however, said it did not bite the officer.
Apryl Santiago-Harvey said when an officer came to her home, she told him to say outside her fenced front yard while she went to get her dog, Titan, who was in the backyard.
"He was already in my gate, he had his first foot on the second step. And then when I told him (to) let me put my dog away, he retracted and closed the gate," she said.
She said when she went into her home, the officer started talking to the dog and came into the front yard, at which point the dog jumped over a fence.
"I heard about five to six gunshots, and when I turned around, I looked at my front lawn and my dog had been shot and killed by the police," she said.
Police said the dog bit the officer, who then fatally shot the animal, but Santiago-Harvey isn't sure if the dog did, in fact, bite the officer.
"When my husband asked him 'Where did he bite you?' he went like this and there was no blood on his hand," she said.
Neighbors said the shooting could have been avoided.
Next-door neighbor Parris Rivera said she saw the shooting happened and started screaming when the officer reached for his gun.
"He had his hand on his holster, I started asking him 'No, no, please don't! Please don't!' and my son screamed 'Titan!' and when he screamed Titan, he pulled his gun when he shot the dog," Rivera said.
Police have not released any information about the officer's condition.
Meanwhile, Santiago-Harvey wants to see body-worn camera video of the incident to clarify exactly what happened.
"It wasn't justified," she said. "Nothing whatsoever."
