Pit bull shot in face, Hammond cop claims self defense

[phill4paul]

HAMMOND, Ind. (FOX 32 News) -

A family is outraged after their pit bull was shot by a police officer, Monday.

The dog was recovering at home on Tuesday afternoon. One and a half-year-old pit bull mix, “Lily” was shot in the face.

Norma Maldonado said her five children love to play with her and were doing so that day.

"Very lovable. She loves everybody that comes here, she's very playful," said Maldonado.

The family was cooking out in the backyard with Lily playing outside, Monday afternoon. Maldonado said her two sons grabbed their food and started to walk up front with Lily close behind.

“Not even 10 seconds later we heard the gun shot and Lily screamed out,” added Maldonado. “And I just dropped what I was doing and I went running and I has still seen the officer pointing his gun."

It was a Hammond Police officer who was called out to check on a pit bull roaming outside unleashed.

Maldonado begged the officer to tell her why he shot the dog.

“He said, 'because your dog was loose,” she said. “And I said no she's not there's an electrical fence, read the sign."

The police department told a different story. Through a statement they said the officer called to the family and the dog charged at the officer.

He ran back 15 to 20 feet and the dog lunged at him, so he fired the shot.

The statement continued: "The Hammond Police Department has determined that based upon the circumstances that the officer was justified in defending himself at the time of the incident."

Maldonado said her dog did not lunge at the officer, adding that Lily was shot at the edge of her home near a bush.

The home is a full car length from her invisible fence line.

"He had pepper spray, he had a Taser gun, he didn't have to use his gun with my kids in range," added Maldonado.

The family plans on meeting with lawyers about the incident.

Their vet bills will total close to $5,000 and Maldonado said she will have to go to court because animal control told her the invisible fence is not allowed in her community.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/25...iGs4E.facebook

[Nirvikalpa]

Ugh. God, I am glad pitties have very strong bone structures of their face... I see a lot able to take shots to the head and survive. Poor things.

Find the person who called about a "loose pitbull."

[JK/SEA]

i REALLY REALLY hate looking at $#@! like that, but i effin owe to that dog, as a human, to see what another human is capable of doing to an innocent animal....

[belian78]

I'd be a dead man, or on the run if that were my dog.

[JK/SEA]

I'd be a dead man, or on the run if that were my dog.

i don't know if i could, but it would be tempting say, if someone was terminal with something, and they caught them on a 'bad' pain day or something....then the dog gets shot...one could get pissed...


yeah, its effed up with these cop/dog shootings. Hope all this new training will kick in soon....>s<

[Anti Federalist]

Indiana cop crashes family cookout, shoots pet in the face in front of children

http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/norma-maldonado/

HAMMOND, IN — A family is upset after a police officer pulled up to their home, and within seconds without warning had pulled his gun and shot the family dog that was contained inside an invisible fence on its owners’ property.

The dog’s owner, Norma Maldonado, called attention to the June 10th incident after her 1.5 year old puppy, Lilly, received a bullet to the face during a family cookout. She wrote to local media:

My dog was shot in the face today by an officer from the Hammond Indiana police department. Lilly was on the side of our house with my two boys ages 7, and 11 years old, my daughter 16 yrs old and my baby boy 11 months were standing 15 feet behind her. We have a sign and flags in our front yard warning everyone that Lilly is on the premises and is confined by an electric fence, there are also flags marking up to what point she can reach (middle of our front yard). The police officer decided to jump out of his vehicle, take out his gun and shoot my dog in the face in front of all my kids and neighbors. He never said a word before he shot her! Our family needs justice, hammond police like to beat up there K9 police dogs and now it seems they like to shoot the residents pets in front of children! What would of happened if he would of missed and hit my kids instead? Something has to be done… Someone please help us get this out, he completely didn’t care for my kids safety or well being.

The reason police arrived on the scene was apparently a complaint that the dog was not tethered; an apparent violation of the city’s leash law. The officer was dispatched with the expectation that a pet was loose.

The officer pulled up to the address, walked onto the property and immediately found the justification to shoot the dog. HPD’s statement characterized the dog as in “attack mode,” defending the shooting by stating the stating that the officer saw the dog approaching and was justified in stopping it with force.

But the witnesses say that the shooting was unnecessary and dangerous. There were children just a few feet away. Was the officer really so terrified that he had to open fire at a picnic?

After police arrived, it was “not even 10 seconds later we heard the gun shot and Lily screamed out,” Maldonado said to FOX 32. “And I just dropped what I was doing and I went running and I has still seen the officer pointing his gun.”

“After being shot,” Maldonado said, “Lilly crawled to the baby, since she is never far from his side.”

Maldonado asked the officer why he shot her dog. She recalled the response: “He said, ‘because your dog was loose.’”

(Why? Because $#@! YOU! That's why. - Officer Friendly)

The name of the officer has not been publicly released, and with the department’s swift absolution of their own actions, accountability is practically impossible.

[Thor]

The officer pulled up to the address, walked onto the property and immediately found the justification to shoot the dog.

"Jerad and Amanda Miller pulled up to the CiCi's, walked into the restaurant and immediately found the justification to shoot the pigs."

I am not saying what they did is OK; but what these dog shooting cops do is not OK either. Perspective is an interesting thing.

[phill4paul]

What would of happened if he would of missed and hit my kids instead?

I'm sure theye would have found something to charge you with for theye are never at fault. Since theye feel the actions of the officer would have been caused by you I'm sure that you would have gotten a "child endangerment" charge. At least. God save you if he had been forced to miss the dog and kill your child for his own personal safety.

[tod evans]

The children learned a lesson even if their parents didn't.....

Sad...