Newly released bodycam footage shows a police officer’s perspective when he responded to a burglary alarm and shot two tail-wagging dogs earlier this month — but doesn’t seem to help prove his reason for pulling the trigger.
The officer, identified as Michael Mays of the Minneapolis Police Department, is seen in the clip pointing his firearm at one of the dogs — a pit bull named Ciroc — as the dog slowly walks toward him. Mays then shoots the pooch in the face.
Ciroc squirms as the second dog, Rocko, runs toward Mays. Mays then fires multiple rounds at Rocko, wounding the dog in the side, face and shoulder.
After the incident, Mays hopped a fence and calmly walked to the home’s doorstep, apologizing to 18-year-old Courtney Livingston.
“Hey, I’m going to sit there and say sorry about this,” Mays told a hysterical Livingston. “I don’t like shooting no dogs, I love dogs. It’s unfortunate.”
“Rocko, physically, is probably at 75 percent; emotionally and mentally, he’s not there,” Jennifer LeMay, the dogs’ owner, said at a news conference.
A police report says Ciroc growled at the officer — but Mays’ body camera footage did not begin recording audio until after shots were fired, making it difficult to verify the cop’s account.
“Ciroc didn’t growl. Ciroc didn’t bark. He didn’t even curl his lips,” LeMay said.
LeMay’s attorney, Michael Padden, released the body camera footage Thursday.
He’s curious why the audio on Mays’ body camera wasn’t turned on as the officer approached the house.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau described the video as “difficult to watch.”
LeMay says Ciroc and Rocko are service dogs for her children, CBS News reports.
A GoFundMe page to help pay for medical expenses had received more than $35,000 as of Friday.
Source: http://nypost.com