HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – An officer investigating a possible domestic disturbance ended with a neighbor’s dog rushed to a nearby veterinarian hospital with a gunshot wound.
On Sunday around 11 p.m., Hallandale Beach Police officers were called to the 300 Block of Southwest 9th Avenue on a possible domestic disturbance.
After the responding officers investigated the claim and one of the officers was returning to his patrol car, a Rottweiler got loose from a neighboring yard and charged the officer, Hallandale Beach police officers said.
The officer shot the dog three times, striking it in the heart once, witnesses said.
The dog, an 8-month-old female named Luna, belonged to Isabel Espinosa. Espinosa, as it turns out, placed an initial 911 call about the possible domestic disturbance a few houses down.
“The dog definitely wasn’t charging at (the officer),” Espinosa said. “If he had felt threatened he would’ve shot the dog straight, not on the side because it went through on the side.”
Hallandale Beach police officers then rushed the dog to an emergency veterinarian hospital where it later died.
“I’m not going to get my dog back,” Espinosa said. “This should not happen again, so I just need to make sure (to) raise awareness and implement protocols.”
A Hallandale Beach Police Department spokesperson told Local 10 that an incident report and police body camera footage is unavailable as the department investigates the matter further.