KITTY HAWK, N.C. — The Town of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina conducted an investigation after a police officer shot and killed a dog while on duty on Oct. 1.
Tuesday, the town shared its conclusion: Although the situation was sad, the officer's actions were determined to be justified.
A District Attorney agreed with the town on that decision.
A post on the Kitty Hawk Police Department Facebook page explains what led up to the shooting.
That Saturday, the police department got a 911 call about a dog running around unleashed on Smith Street, allegedly being aggressive toward children.
An officer went to investigate and found that the dog wasn't near the children anymore.
The town said that officer went to try and speak with the dog's owner about keeping his dog restrained. There's a local law that says dogs should be kept from running onto other people's property.
"Upon walking down the driveway, the dog came out from under the house. The Officer began backing away, but the dog continued forward in an aggressive manner, biting the officer multiple times," the town summarized. "The Officer then discharged his firearm to stop the attack in fear of injury to himself, resulting in the dog’s death."
There's no body camera footage of what happened. The town said it was on its charging port at the police station.
However, the internal investigation report says eyewitness reports match the officers' account and says there is security footage of the dog, Sage, being aggressive toward kids.
A petition about the dog on Change.org says Sage was a registered therapy dog, and had been friendly.
The petition, published earlier in the month, calls for the Kitty Hawk Police Department to fire the officer who shot Sage.
"Our Sweetpea Sage is dead. She will never wag her tail again. She will never lay her head in the sun. She will never jump in the ocean. She will NEVER BE THERE TO EASE HER OWNER’S PTSD," it reads.
It says Sage could have interpreted him as an intruder walking towards her home, which was private property.
The petition and town investigation both agree that the officer wasn't able to speak to Sage's owner on this occasion before he shot her.
However, the town clarified that this was the 14th time police had to come out to that specific home to handle calls about aggressive dogs.
"Officers have issued several enforcement actions to include verbal warnings, written warnings, and state citations," the Kitty Hawk post says. "Even after this incident, complaints continue to come in about the same owner’s other dog running at large and intimidating neighbors."
The police officer had been put on administrative leave while the investigation was ongoing. Tuesday's post didn't give a specific update on the status of that police officer.
