Owner, police disagree on whether shooting of dog justified

By KATIE LESLIE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In Darryl Vinson’s words, a bad situation turned into tragedy when a domestic dispute resulted in his dog being shot by Cobb County Police.

The incident happened July 10 after Vinson and his girlfriend, Vanessa Outzs, got into an argument at the home they share in Vinings, he said. According to the warrant for his arrest, Vinson, 26, pushed his girlfriend out of the door to the home and locked it, prompting her to call police to have him removed.

Two officers burst into the house through the garage door, he said, and told him to freeze. Ruckus, his purebred American Pit Bull Terrier, didn’t know that command.

What happened next is unclear.

According to Vinson, Ruckus tried to leave the room through the garage, and Vinson said he told the officers the dog isn’t aggressive and wouldn’t bite or harm. The first officer walked past Ruckus, but the second officer opened fire, killing the dog, he said.

“He never barked or showed aggressive tendencies toward the officers,” Vinson said. “If my dog jumped or bit the officers, I’d completely understand. But he was just a good dog.”

Cobb County Police Spokesman Joe Hernandez said in a statement released Wednesday that officers heard loud barking from inside the apartment and the dog “made aggressive movements towards an officer on-scene.”

Hernandez said the officer “took steps towards stopping the dog, but those attempts failed.”

It’s unclear what steps the officer may have taken. The incident report does not indicate whether the dog was acting aggressively. The report states the “100-pound pit bull ran into the garage and was shot three times” by an officer.

Hernandez added: “The officer felt threatened, and felt that his safety and the safety of the other officers and citizens on scene were in jeopardy. As a last resort he fired his duty weapon at the pit bull. It was an unfortunate incident, and we never want something like this to happen. However the safety of our officers and the citizens of Cobb County are our highest priority.”

Vinson said Ruckus was shot in his feet and neck. As his girlfriend ran into the house upon hearing the shots, Ruckus crawled back inside whimpering and died soon after, he said.

“It like was shooting a family member,” Vinson said. “He was our baby. [My girlfriend] didn’t think it was going to happen like this.”

Outzs could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

Vinson was arrested for trespassing; however, the incident report indicates both Vinson and Outzs live at the home in the 2100 block of Cumberland Parkway. Vinson was also charged for simple battery.

He purchased Ruckus for $2,500 from a breeder less than a year ago and said the dog had successfully completed obedience training through area pet stores. Ruckus would have turned 1 on Monday.

“As a police officer, he should’ve recognized the dog [wasn’t being aggressive.] But he just started shooting. It happened so fast.”

He and his girlfriend are no longer together, he said. Both of them are struggling with what happened to Ruckus, a playmate of their other dog, a Maltese-Shih Tzu mix, he said.

“[Vanessa is] feeling awful. She loved him as much as I did.”