PD Shoots Dog, Ignores Seizure Victim

[Chief1C]

I dunno if News Robot posted this or not..

http://statter911.com/2012/08/16/must-see-video-nypd-cop-shoots-dog-crowd-outraged-but-no-one-seems-to-care-about-the-man-having-a-seizure-in-the-street/

So this is probably a homeless man, has a pitbull. The man is having a seizure, and the dog is protecting him. Cops shoot the dog, and the crowd goes nuts. I watched the long version, in nine minutes of footage, not one single person comments about the condition of the seizure patient, and not one single person tries to help. Including the police.

There's one for your duty to act. I know they get a certain degree of emergency first aid training in their academy. Pennsylvania, equally among all Law Enforcement, gets ARC Emergency Responder. Not shocked at all, just pathetic. Damn cop car drivers.

[09michaels]

I could even watch the whole video. But your right, no one seemed concerned about the guy on the ground. It looks like a case of tunnel vision.

[ERDoc]

I watched about half of the 9 minute video and it looks like a bystander or two try to check the guy but get pushed back by PD (around 2:10). There's some time when he is out of the view of the camera also but they are very brief instances. I think the cops realized they had a crowd control problem and focused on that first.

[DFIB]

That was one risky shot, with a very high risk of collateral damage. The weapon was discharged pointing down the street with a chance of ricochet. I am more concerned with the LEO discharging his weapon in a crowded environment than that his target was a dog.

[DwayneEMTP]

Yeah DFIB, I had the same thought. He controlled it, shot the dog in the eye, and there was no collateral damage, so in no way am I implying that he was wrong, only that I had that thought.

I also wondered, and maybe it happened before the vid started, why they didn't choose to taze him much earlier instead? But again, I believe that he shot to defend himself, his shot went where he intended, no other bad things happened, so these are curiosities for me, not judgements.

But it is curious about the guy on the ground. It's almost as if they'd checked him and found him to be deceased?

[ERDoc]

I read a few other articled about this and a few mentioned that mace had also been used. I'd say that something needed to be done to stop the dog once he charged a citizen and PO. I also heard that the dog and the guy are doing fine and recovering. Not that it changes anything but the guy was supposedly intoxicated.

[DFIB]

I agree, and in the same situation I would have most likely acted the same. It was a great quick draw and shot, and the policeman proved to be a great instinctive shooter. Shooting in public is a very tricky thing. Once the bullet is launched it cannot be called back. I am glad it worked out well.

If it had been me the bullet would have missed the dog, hit the pavement, shattered into multiple fragments, hit my partner and some poor dude down the street that was watching the show. Yep, it would be involuntary manslaughter for me.

[ERDoc]

That sounds like my luck to Dfib.

[fire911medic]

This really is a loaded post/question as there really is no right or wrong answer to it. Was the cop justified in shooting the dog ? As much as I am an activist for animals and especially service dogs (note I am not claiming this dog was one or even truly associated with this guy) and hate to see anything hurt, if the officer truly felt threatened and felt the dog would seriously pose a threat to the patient and/or care providers then I can understand his actions. Do I think there may have been better ones to take ? Yes, but granted I am not the one there and not the one facing an unknown pit bull. As for the issue of checking on the patient after the threat was de-escalated - I do have a problem with the officer not moving forward to provide at least basic first aid for this guy. Any of you that have been on here very long know I have a strong advocacy for seizure patients and I'm not sure if the officer wasn't sure what to do (in which case that needs to be addressed by his department), was restricted to maintaining crowd control and preventing crime (yes it's happened multiple times that people were assaulted and/or robbed during or following a seizure), or if he just didn't think to act or feel the need to. Again, I was not in this officer's shoes and do not have to abide by his protocols, so it is easy to critique someone else when it is not us on the line. Either way, I feel a lesson could be learned by all and glad to hear all are okay following.

[ERDoc]

Watching that video again, the cops look pretty young. This was probably the first time either one of them have fired a weapon in a non-training situation. They both probably soiled their hanes (especially the one that was close to the line of fire) and were a little shell shocked afterwards.