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A man who saw one of his neighbors getting attacked by a dog Saturday went back in his house to get his gun, then shot the dog twice – later finding out he killed a Lubbock Police Department K-9 dog that had escaped its South Lubbock yard, according to a police report obtained by LubbockLights.com.
The report provided details about the K-9 attacking two parents while out for a walk with their kids.
“[The mom] advised she was on a walk with [her husband] and their children when the dog approached them. [The mom] advised the dog went to her first, causing her to fall and striking her head. [The mom] advised her husband then kept the dog away from her and the children,” the redacted report said.
The neighbor saw someone (the name was blacked out) holding the dog back, the report said.
“The dog then got on top of [name blacked out] and began to attack,” the police report said.
As the neighbor ran back to his residence to get a gun, the neighbor’s wife got the children into their home.
The neighbor returned, “and waited for a clear shot of the dog.”
“He then fired once into the side of the dog. [The neighbor] advised the dog whimpered away … [The neighbor] advised he was in fear of the dog attacking again, so he shot the dog once again in the head,” the report said.
A police statement, issued the same day as the incident, said, “Just after 8:30 a.m., officers responded to a call about a dog attack in the 5700 block of 108th Street.”
Police said EMS took two people to University Medical Center – one with serious injuries, and the other with moderate injuries.
“Shortly after … an off-duty Lubbock Police officer alerted Dispatch to send additional units to help in locating his police K-9 that was missing from his yard. It was later confirmed that this same K-9 was involved in the incident,” the statement also said.
The K-9 handler was placed on administrative leave.
“We take this incident seriously and are committed to holding ourselves accountable. Our priority is always the safety of our community, and we are working to understand how this occurred and how to prevent something like it in the future.” the statement said.
As of Tuesday, the officer was still on leave and under investigation by the Office of Professional Standards. No timetable had been set for when the officer might return to duty or face potential discipline.
Prior to Saturday, LPD had one sergeant, one corporal and five patrol officers with K-9s.
LubbockLights.com asked why much of the police report was blacked out.
The name of the neighbor who shot the dog cannot be given out because no crime was committed and the names of witnesses and those involved in the incident must remain confidential, police said.
When the first officer arrived
When the first officer arrived, EMS was already there, and the K-9 was already shot and killed. She saw a man without his shirt on while paramedics were tending to lacerations on his head, face, both arms and his torso.
The officer asked people, “Who shot the dog?”
“[A neighbor] approached me and advised he did. [He] was cooperative and advised he shot the dog two times,” the officer wrote in her police report.
The officer called him later to get a more detailed statement by phone. The neighbor told her he heard a commotion while he was in his back yard, so he went to the front to see what was going on.
While on the scene, the officer learned the dog was an LPD K-9.
The officer in charge of the K-9 called for help roughly 25 minutes after the incident was first reported.
“ … His K-9 escaped from his backyard, and [he] needed assistance to locate it,” the police report said.
The next two paragraphs from the police report were blacked out.
Then it said, “[The K-9 officer] arrived home shortly after and noticed the dog missing and called dispatch to get assistance to locate the K-9.”
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