Chicago Police Kill Family Dog While Running Through Their Yard Searching For A Robbery Suspect

Police departments around the country have faced intense scrutiny due to notable shootings of innocent victims. However, all of the fallen victims haven’t been people. Fatal shootings of non-threatening dogs have also been making headlines quite a bit lately. Now, the Chicago Police Department is under fire for the death of another one.

According to the Washington Times, a Southside Chicago-area family wants answers for the death of their dog, Castro. The nine-year-old dog was reportedly shot by a Chicago police officer who entered their yard while chasing an alleged robber. Although the family had a “Beware of Dog” sign up, the officer still entered the yard in search of the suspect and opened fire on the dog after entering. Then to make matters worse, the suspect never entered the yard. The officer only used the yard as a shortcut so there was technically no reason to enter the yard.

The officers also failed to catch the suspected robber although he was hiding in very close proximity. Now the dog owner, Terry Taylor, wants justice. The heartbroken dog owner spoke briefly during a news interview about losing the animal he referred to as a member of his family.

“The police ran in my yard, opened the gate and shot my dog,” Taylor said. “It’s like I lost a family member.”

Hours later Taylor and his son actually found out what happened to the robbery suspect police had such a hard time locating. He’d actually never entered the backyard, but he wasn’t far from the house either. He resurfaced three hours later when he came from under Taylor’s porch.

“He came from under the porch. He had the gun in his hand, he was backing up talking to me like this, and he is telling me ‘I apologize for the police killing your dog, I seen the whole thing.’ He put the gun back on his hip proceeded down the street,” said DeMarkus Southern.

During an interview with CBS-Chicago a neighbor also gave a brief account of the incident that led to the dog’s untimely death. He also spoke with the suspect, whom he initially accused of shooting the dog. The suspect also told him that the police officer shot the dog.

“I said why’d you shoot the dog?” the neighbor Aaron Thompson. “He said I didn’t shoot the dog, the assailant shot the dog.”

The robber is still free since the officers failed to arrest him. He was last seen boarding a city bus. Taylor is seeking retribution for the dog’s death. He is currently petitioning for the police department to remove the dog’s corpse and pay for the dog’s cremation. The Chicago Police Department has yet to release a statement in regards to the dog’s death. The fatally shooting is now being investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority.

[Image via Bing]