A Davenport Police Officer might have acted out of self-defense after his bodycam footage showed him shooting and killing a pet dog in the presence of the family.
The cop came to the 800 block of North Pine Street on August 21, 7:20 p.m., in response to calls about disturbances from four aggressive dogs in the neighborhood.
Before his arrival, footages from surveillance cameras around the block showed the unleashed dog, named Myst, playing with two kids who were riding a bicycle.
The officer pulled over and alighted from his car when the dog, suddenly ran towards him.
The officer tried to quell him by dropping a finger towards the dog, but the animal continued barking and charged towards him, forcing the cop to shoot it twice.
The pet dog ran off crying and collapsed in front of the home. The shooting happened in the presence of the distraught family members and kids who were left terrified.
Watch the video as recorded from the police officer’s bodycam below:
Watch the video as recorded from a CCTV:
“The City of Davenport wants to express its condolences to the family involved in the events that led to the loss of their dog on August 21, 2024″, Mayor Mike Matson said in a statement, responding to the dog’s shooting.
“The incident is upsetting to us, particularly because children were present. Right away, the Davenport Police Department assured the City it would review the incident and ensure the department’s standards were met. That review is now complete. While we acknowledge the desire for a more urgent response, taking time for due diligence was of the utmost importance”.
“The City recognizes that police officers are often in unpredictable situations, where they are entrusted with the authority to make decisions in a matter of seconds. In this case, the Davenport Police officer expressed his sincere fear that he would be seriously injured, and we believe the officer’s body-worn camera supports his statements”.
Despite the officer’s claim of killing the dog out of self-defense, many thoughts from the public believe the contrary because the same officer was involved in another fatal incident with a dog just weeks prior. On July 13, 2024, he had run over an unleashed dog.
The owner of the dog, Don Hesseltine, referred to the police officer as a cold-blooded dog killer because he wasn’t bitten first or injured before he used his firearm.
“The officer shot a dog who was merely barking, not attacking; he was never bitten or even scratched. So in that moment, he went from an officer of the law to a cold-blooded killer”, he said.
A bit of argument might be constructed when the family of the deceased dog said the incident left their kids traumatized and that one of their sons walks around with an imaginary version of Myst, calling out to him and talking to him. In response, another said that police officers are also humans too, and might have been attacked as a kid and already traumatized.