Incident has locals calling for the officer to be removed from duty
Bodycam video captured the moment a police officer in Sturgeon, Missouri, shot and killed a small blind and deaf dog for no apparent reason last week.
Responding to a call about a loose animal, the officer can be seen lazily trying to place a lasso around the canine’s neck before choosing to shoot it in the head instead of continuing to make attempts at leashing the animal.
GRAPHIC: Sturgeon, Missouri police officer kills small blind and deaf dog who wandered from yard.
The city says it “believes that the officer acted within his authority based on the information available to him at the time to protect against possible injury to citizens…” pic.twitter.com/TvhAnJJgOF
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 24, 2024
Later in the video, the dog’s owner approaches the officer and confronts him over the unnecessary shooting.
When the sobbing owner tries getting answers, the cop is defensive and offers half-assed apologies.
The officer bizarrely argues the dog may have been hit by a car and therefore suffering from internal bleeding, so he may have put the canine out of its misery.
Overall, the owner maintains the shooting was uncalled for since the dog was never aggressive or putting anyone in harm’s way.
The cop actually threw the situation back in the dog owner’s face, asking why it was loose in the first place.
The City of Sturgeon issued a statement defending the officer, Myron Woodson, on the town’s official Facebook page, writing, “The City has reviewed the dispatch report and body camera footage regarding the recent dog at large incident. The City believes that the officer acted within his authority based on the information available to him at the time to protect against possible injury to citizens from what appeared to be an injured, sick, and abandoned dog.”
Despite maintaining the law enforcement officer “acted within his authority,” the city of Sturgeon says it will be sending all officers to Boone County Animal Control for training and education, “in hopes that this unfortunate situation does not occur again.”
Over 1,700 signatures have been produced in a petition calling for the police department to remove Officer Woodson from service.
