LAPD releases footage of moment officers shot and killed woman’s dog | US news
Los Angeles police department published the images Footage of the moment police officers shot and killed a woman’s dog in the hallway outside her apartment in the Canoga Park neighborhood.
Police responded to reports that a woman was screaming on June 13, the night the New York Knicks won the NBA finals by beating the San Antonio Spurs, which turned out to be chanting.
Body camera footage shows the moment the woman, Marie Marseille, opened her door to police. The two-year-old golden Saint Bernard doodle runs to the door and barks at the officers, whose faces are blurred in the video.
One of the officers immediately draws his gun and first points it at the ground, then raises it towards the doorway. “Take your dog away!” One of the officers shouted.
“That’s a big dog,” the officer wearing the camera tells his partner.
“It’s not biting me, bro,” says the police officer, who is seen holding his gun.
Marseille turns to the door and appears to hold the door to keep the dog inside, but does not close the door completely. He tells officers the dog is not aggressive.
The dog, wearing a blue Knicks jersey, walks out into the hallway and barks at the officers again, pauses, then takes a step forward and barks again. The police officer drew his gun and then fired four times. Both Marseille and the officer’s partner stand behind the dog.
The other officer also appears to raise the gun into view when his partner fires.
In the footage from the body camera used by the police officer who shot the dog, the other police officer is seen carrying two guns. During his first interaction with Marseille and his dog, his right hand rests on what appears to be his service pistol.
After Marseille drives his dog away, he holsters it with his other hand, resembling a separate gun that he holds in his left hand for the remainder of the encounter. During the quiet conversation before the dog enters the hallway, the officer points the gun directly at Marseille.
A video of Marseille’s two-year-old dog named Jameson sobbing and hugging her body went viral following Saturday’s shooting. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she spoke with police Chief Jim McDonnell to ensure an investigation into the use of force against the dog.
NBC4 reporter Eric Leonard noted that the LAPD released the video more quickly than usual, but the department did not provide raw footage. Instead, the footage was edited and the officers’ faces blurred, which is unusual.
“We’ve been looking at this body-worn video for years. I don’t recall another instance where officers’ faces were blurred.” Leonard said.
