Posted on 01/09/2014 11:57:15 AM PST by nickcarraway
Officers say the dog charged them as they approached to investigate a domestic disturbance.
The dog, named Scrappy Doo, was wounded in the shoulder and neck but survived and came home from the vet Monday, owner Russell Lortz said.
Boise police say the 75-pound dog ran aggressively toward officers as they walked up to Lortz’s trailer home on Patricia Lane. One officer fired five shots.
Three bullets hit Lortz’s Subaru, flattening both tires on the passenger side and hitting a door handle, he said.
“They shot my dog and killed my car,” said Lortz, who described the dog as a 5-year-old Australian Bandog.
The incident began about 10:15 a.m. Sunday when a neighbor called police, saying it sounded like a fight was going on and someone may be hurt. Lortz said his wife was having a panic attack related to her medication, had been crying out in the yard and then came back inside.
Accounts from Lortz and the police differ, principally about whether the gate leading to Lortz’s yard was open or shut when police arrived. Lortz said his wife had just been next to the gate and was sure it was closed. Officers reported it was open and the dog ran through it before they reached the gate..
Lortz, who was inside the trailer, didn’t see what happened but “heard gunshots go off in my driveway and my dog screaming.” From what police told him and evidence at the scene, he said he believes one officer opened the gate and startled Scrappy Doo, which in turn startled the officer, who ran toward the back of the Subaru.
“When he ran, the dog gave barking chase, his partner saw it and opened fire,” Lortz said.
(Excerpt) Read more at idahostatesman.com ...
Twofer Woofer PING
Both tires, the dog and the door handle? That’s at least a 10 foot pattern!!
Just like owning a guitar doesn’t make you a rock star, being issued a badge and gun doesn’t make you a marksman.
“Scappy” Doo? Australian Bandog? That sure looks like a pit bull to me.
Is that meth I smell cookin’?
“One officer fired five shots”. Not knowing the distance the cop shot from, It might be pretty good shooting.
“Both tires, the dog and the door handle?
Disabled the car, prevented anyone from getting in the car and eliminated any threat the dog may have presented. Only one miss.
Looking at it from a marksmanship viewpoint, it that may have been pretty good shooting.
Scrappy Doo. It was the name of a cartoon dog related to Scooby Doo.
Damn! Now the cops are killing cars too?!
I wonder if the little fur ball has been debarked, as well. Stealth is of the essence when you use your pup as a weapon.
A woman cries in her yard, so cops shoot her dog. That’s what any sane person would do. /s
Sounds more like spray and pray!
Yes, I worked in Washington Group Plaza (formerly the Morrison-Knudsen Plaza) several years ago when a yahoo decided he wanted to play chase. He went well over 30 miles and wound up in downtown Boise at the intersection of Myrtle and Broadway, a very-heavily traveled intersection. It was mid-day, too. Anyway, the guy jumped from his truck with a rifle, didn't get a shot off, but the Boise cops certainly did. They took him down, as well as putting several rounds in the buildings at the MK Plaza, and the Tax Commission building at the southeast end of the plaza (about 1,000 feet away).
I know for a fact the fourth floor of the Tax Commission building had damaged windows from the gunfire.
The northwest end of the plaza had bullet holes in upper windows. The interesting thing is, the northwest end of the plaza sits at least 15 feet above the intersection, and the windows another 10 above that, and they were all within 150 to 200 feet of the intersection where the cops were shooting.
A guy I know also said he heard two shots go by him as he was walking into the front of the Tax Commssion building and they continued southeast toward housing and a park. Considering he was a Viet Nam Vet, and had heard the crack of incoming rounds before, I took him at his word.
The whole thing caused several people to chastise the Boise PD for their lack of marksmanship.
Or intelligent
The Police Officers testified that they would not have shot at the dog if he had not wagged his tail in such a threatening manner.
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