Hollywood officer who shot and killed a man’s dog after raiding the wrong apartment did not violate the man’s rights, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled Officer Michael McBride is entitled to immunity under a legal doctrine that says law enforcement officers should not be held liable unless their actions were clearly incompetent or they knowingly violated the law.
McBride in January 2015 fired six shots at Missy, a 65-pound red-nosed pit bull, even though she was running away from the officer as the raid was taking place. The shooting was captured by a Telemundo camera crew that was there to capture footage of the raid.
“The judge has made her final decision. And while we respect her decision, we don’t agree with it,” said Heidi Mehaffey, attorney for Missy’s owner, Wilson Almendarez. “We do believe this is a sad day for pet owners.”
Almendarez, 38, filed a lawsuit last year accusing police of violating the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. He adopted the 6-year-old dog a year before she was shot.
McBride was among several officers who went to the wrong apartment searching for a man who’d been arrested the day before in Miami-Dade County. Officers sealed off every avenue of escape and began banging on the windows and door, the lawsuit says.
When Almendarez’s roommate opened the door, Missy made a run for it.
A K-9 officer near the door kicked Missy to keep her away from his police dog. Missy did not try to attack the officer or his dog, the lawsuit says, but continued to run toward the only exit, where McBride stood with his weapon drawn and started firing.
Almendarez began crying when he realized his dog had been shot.
“She was my baby,” he said in an interview at the time. “She was everything to me. She did not deserve to die like that. She was a loving dog.”
The Hollywood Police Department reviewed the incident and concluded the shooting was in compliance with department rules.
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