K-9 Cop Shoots Labrador in Front of 2-Year-Old Girl
Officer Steve Gilkerson of Woodville, Ohio, a K-9 cop for a year and a half, shot a chocolate Labrador that approached him during a traffic stop, wounding it. Gilkerson claimed he shot the dog out of fear for his safety and the safety of the people he pulled over. The dog, Moses, belonged to the local business outside of which Gilkerson made the traffic stop. The dog's owner says Moses usually greets customers who pull up right where the cop did. No one has shot at Moses before.
Police in Woodville say they've cleared Gilkerson of wrongdoing via a "review panel," but no witnesses to the shooting, including the two adults in the stopped car, were interviewed yet, and an investigation apparently remains open.
A two-year-old girl was in the car when the cop shot Moses. Although the driver consented to a search after she was stopped, Gilkerson changed his mind about the search after he shot the dog. The Toledo Blade spoke to Cook:
"He told us to leave," she said, saying they stayed awhile because she was too emotional to drive.
Her daughter also witnessed the event, and was talking about the dog being shot, bleeding, and needing to see a doctor.
"She talked about it all day [Monday]," Ms. Cook said. "I just don't want her to be traumatized. She loves animals. She was white and was breathing heavy, like she was scared and didn't know what to do."
Police insist Gilkerson loved animals too, although according to The Blade during a K9 presentation last year he told an audience he's been afraid of dogs he doesn't know his entire life.
h/t Grant Cummings