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18,130 Posts
I've been saying for years that it would happen eventually....well it finally happened.
Its over and I've been cleared of all wrongdoing, so now I can speak of it.
Me and one other attempted to execute a felony warrant on a guy that was supposed to live at a rather secluded house. It was a small white frame house with a neat looking yard. The back yard was fairly large and after the grass were woods that went up a mountain. It was on a dirt road that was rarely traveled except for those that lived on it and the postman. What few houses were on this road were at least a 1/4 mile apart with lots of woods in between.
We'd been there before. Two guys living together, always in and out of trouble, not the kind you would be proud to have as neighbors.One time was on a alledged domestic battery call, another was to clear the house for the EMT's to respond on a possible drug overdose, I found the guy passed out on the couch, laying in vomit., minutes away from death. I've often thought that justice would be served by letting him die right there, but I am simple like that.
The inside of the house was total chaos. Filthy clothes everywhere, trash laying all around, and discarded food on tables and furniture that would gag a maggot. It stunk. It was terrible and I still have a hard time beleiving that people choose to live like that. I remember thinking that the community would be served by torching the place.
On this particular day, no one was home. As I moved to the back yard to look around and in a pissed off state that people like that exist, I was pretty focused on the windows. I heard a sound and turned to see a rather large pit bull charging me. Out of sheer reaction, I put out my left hand and at the top of my lungs I yelled "STOP". I dont know what caused the dog to stop, but for some reason it did and it stopped about 8 feet away. It stood there with a low guttural growl for maybe 3 seconds, and decided that he could take me.
My Sig .45 appeared magically in my hand, I have no recollection of my brain telling my hand to get it. I was actually suprised when the gun went off, I could have sworn that I only shot twice, when it fact I shot 5 times. My partner came running, gun in hand,he ran though a small patio, knocking a gas grill over. That sound startled me enough that I turned on him with gun in hand and its only by the grace of God that I didnt shoot him.:gah:
He asked my I was OK, and I responded "Hell no Im not OK I just shot someones dog !". I think he was as hyped up as I was and was glad to see that it was just a dog. We stood there looking at the pit bull now on the ground with his feet still twitching and where he dropped was about 2 feet from where I stood and he assessed the shots. Shot no. 1 went high into the shoulder, causing the dog to turn slightly to the left. Two and Three were only about an inch apart, 2# hit him in the left side of the jaw,3# was a bit higher. The dog apprarently stumbled and shot 4# hit him in the spine behind the shoulder. Shot 5# was in the side of the head as as he had dropped to the ground and he tried to get up. Even though he was dead, I was not eager to place the gun back in the holster as my partner had to remind me to secure the weapon.
I have no recollection of getting the gun, aiming, and I would have swore in a court of law that I only shot twice, but clearly there were 5 entry holes and 2 exits, with 5 empty cases on the ground.
After notifing the shift commander, him calling the Sheriff, the Sheriff calling me, and filling out several reports and statements, I went home when the shift was over. I was so wound up I couldnt not sleep, and I felt like I had been kicked in the gut for several hours.
I can clearly remember that growl, and seeing the hair stand up on the back of his neck. I can still hear the sound his feet made when running though the grass. I remember the smell of hot dog and hot bright red blood on really green grass just like it was a minute ago.The smell of an oiled Sig .45 that has just been shot and the smell of burnt powder. The sound of him hitting the ground...like a sack of grain being dropped.I thought that the whole incident was at least a minute long when in fact it couldnt have been more that 5 seconds or less. I guess you could say that my senses went "hyper".
I was told that 5 hits out of 5 shots was exellent shooting and way above par. I can honestly say that it was pure luck, because I simply did not have time to sight. Im not sure that I could do it again.To be sure, I dont have a concious thought of even getting the gun out of the holster.
I was extremely fortunate that the dog stopped when he did. I am quite sure that I would not have cleared leather had he not stopped.
I learned a few lessons here. One, is that it is unbeliveable how fast things can happen. Two, is that that pit bull charged me without making a sound. Three is that you had better be practiced up, because if you take the time to think about what you are having to do, it could be too late. If think that if I had acted a second later, I would have gotten bit.
As it happend,no one claimed the dog.Usually its an expensive thing for the dept. when an officer shoots a dog and emotions run high, but in this case no one came foward to claim it. The next day the owner of the house swore that he had never seen it, and he also swore that his felon boyfriend moved about 70 miles alway, but he couldnt give us an adress:blink:
As for me, I know the Lord was watching over me. I know that the outcome could have been much worse. According to the experts, there is no plausible explanation as the why the dog stopped when it did but I am thankfull it did so. Thnking about the episode still gives me goose bumps.
I think that when dealing with a dog that wants to bite you, you had better be quick and ready because it is simple amazing how fast things can happen.
Its over and I've been cleared of all wrongdoing, so now I can speak of it.
Me and one other attempted to execute a felony warrant on a guy that was supposed to live at a rather secluded house. It was a small white frame house with a neat looking yard. The back yard was fairly large and after the grass were woods that went up a mountain. It was on a dirt road that was rarely traveled except for those that lived on it and the postman. What few houses were on this road were at least a 1/4 mile apart with lots of woods in between.
We'd been there before. Two guys living together, always in and out of trouble, not the kind you would be proud to have as neighbors.One time was on a alledged domestic battery call, another was to clear the house for the EMT's to respond on a possible drug overdose, I found the guy passed out on the couch, laying in vomit., minutes away from death. I've often thought that justice would be served by letting him die right there, but I am simple like that.
The inside of the house was total chaos. Filthy clothes everywhere, trash laying all around, and discarded food on tables and furniture that would gag a maggot. It stunk. It was terrible and I still have a hard time beleiving that people choose to live like that. I remember thinking that the community would be served by torching the place.
On this particular day, no one was home. As I moved to the back yard to look around and in a pissed off state that people like that exist, I was pretty focused on the windows. I heard a sound and turned to see a rather large pit bull charging me. Out of sheer reaction, I put out my left hand and at the top of my lungs I yelled "STOP". I dont know what caused the dog to stop, but for some reason it did and it stopped about 8 feet away. It stood there with a low guttural growl for maybe 3 seconds, and decided that he could take me.
My Sig .45 appeared magically in my hand, I have no recollection of my brain telling my hand to get it. I was actually suprised when the gun went off, I could have sworn that I only shot twice, when it fact I shot 5 times. My partner came running, gun in hand,he ran though a small patio, knocking a gas grill over. That sound startled me enough that I turned on him with gun in hand and its only by the grace of God that I didnt shoot him.:gah:
He asked my I was OK, and I responded "Hell no Im not OK I just shot someones dog !". I think he was as hyped up as I was and was glad to see that it was just a dog. We stood there looking at the pit bull now on the ground with his feet still twitching and where he dropped was about 2 feet from where I stood and he assessed the shots. Shot no. 1 went high into the shoulder, causing the dog to turn slightly to the left. Two and Three were only about an inch apart, 2# hit him in the left side of the jaw,3# was a bit higher. The dog apprarently stumbled and shot 4# hit him in the spine behind the shoulder. Shot 5# was in the side of the head as as he had dropped to the ground and he tried to get up. Even though he was dead, I was not eager to place the gun back in the holster as my partner had to remind me to secure the weapon.
I have no recollection of getting the gun, aiming, and I would have swore in a court of law that I only shot twice, but clearly there were 5 entry holes and 2 exits, with 5 empty cases on the ground.
After notifing the shift commander, him calling the Sheriff, the Sheriff calling me, and filling out several reports and statements, I went home when the shift was over. I was so wound up I couldnt not sleep, and I felt like I had been kicked in the gut for several hours.
I can clearly remember that growl, and seeing the hair stand up on the back of his neck. I can still hear the sound his feet made when running though the grass. I remember the smell of hot dog and hot bright red blood on really green grass just like it was a minute ago.The smell of an oiled Sig .45 that has just been shot and the smell of burnt powder. The sound of him hitting the ground...like a sack of grain being dropped.I thought that the whole incident was at least a minute long when in fact it couldnt have been more that 5 seconds or less. I guess you could say that my senses went "hyper".
I was told that 5 hits out of 5 shots was exellent shooting and way above par. I can honestly say that it was pure luck, because I simply did not have time to sight. Im not sure that I could do it again.To be sure, I dont have a concious thought of even getting the gun out of the holster.
I was extremely fortunate that the dog stopped when he did. I am quite sure that I would not have cleared leather had he not stopped.
I learned a few lessons here. One, is that it is unbeliveable how fast things can happen. Two, is that that pit bull charged me without making a sound. Three is that you had better be practiced up, because if you take the time to think about what you are having to do, it could be too late. If think that if I had acted a second later, I would have gotten bit.
As it happend,no one claimed the dog.Usually its an expensive thing for the dept. when an officer shoots a dog and emotions run high, but in this case no one came foward to claim it. The next day the owner of the house swore that he had never seen it, and he also swore that his felon boyfriend moved about 70 miles alway, but he couldnt give us an adress:blink:
As for me, I know the Lord was watching over me. I know that the outcome could have been much worse. According to the experts, there is no plausible explanation as the why the dog stopped when it did but I am thankfull it did so. Thnking about the episode still gives me goose bumps.
I think that when dealing with a dog that wants to bite you, you had better be quick and ready because it is simple amazing how fast things can happen.
