An off-duty San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officer, in a tragic confrontation, shot and killed his assigned K-9 along with wounding two of his neighbor's dogs when a dog fight broke out in his backyard. The incident unfolded around noon yesterday in the 9300 block of Lands Point Street, as reported by KSAT.
The SAPD revealed that the canines belonging to the officer's neighbor managed to break through a fence and began to aggressively attack the K-9. The officer, unable to safely separate the animals, resorted to firing multiple shots in an attempt to stop the attack. In the chaotic scene, two of the neighbor’s dogs and the officer's K-9 were struck by the gunfire. The K-9 was subsequently rushed to a nearby veterinary clinic, where it was pronounced dead.
According to KSAT, the neighbor was cited for several violations following the incident. In line with department policy, the officer will now be placed on administrative duty while the SAPD’s Shooting Team and Internal Affairs Unit conduct an investigation into the matter.
Additional details from News 4 San Antonio indicate the off-duty officer and his wife both attempted, to no avail, to break up the fight before the officer discharged his weapon. "As I'm coming out I hear them over here like hollering like oh my god oh my god and I'm trying to go through the thing to get my dog it was too late there were like three-four shots I don’t know that's what they told me, my dog run back into the home but Dutch died and the other one is in the hospital," Roderick and Amanda Harris, owners of the neighbor’s dogs, told News 4 San Antonio. They expressed their grief and disbelief, emphasizing their dogs' generally non-aggressive nature and their role as family pets rather than fighters.
The Harris family had only been renting their home for three weeks and there had been no prior incidents reported. They are reportedly waiting for more information on a possible court date. Meanwhile, the involved officer, who has 16 years of service with the SAPD, will be fulfilling his duties in an administrative capacity pending the investigation's outcome.
