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Officer exonerated in dog’s shooting
YOUNGSTOWN
Police have determined that a city officer who shot and killed a pit bull on the East Side in late November was acting in an appropriate manner to protect himself and his canine partner.
An investigative report issued Tuesday by Lt. Brian Butler details the Internal Affairs Department’s findings in the investigation into the shooting involving Officer Michael Anderson and the dog belonging to 26-year-old James Phillips of Mariner Avenue.
Butler said the department conducted a detailed investigation into the shooting, speaking with multiple witnesses, police officers and Dave Nelson, deputy Mahoning County dog warden.
“It is my opinion that Officer Anderson had a reasonable belief that the dog posed an immediate threat of serious physical to himself and/or his canine partner. It appears that Officer Anderson acted within reason when he made the decision to discharge his service pistol. ... Deadly force was a necessary response to the perceived threat,” Butler concluded in the letter.
Neither Anderson nor Phillips could be reached to comment Tuesday.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting began with a call to police about a domestic situation on Keogh Avenue in which a 35-year-old man reportedly went outside and fired a gun during an argument with his live-in girlfriend.
Police ultimately used a stinger gun to subdue the man, but could not locate the weapon he was said to have fired.
Anderson and his canine partner, Ninja, were brought in to search the area near Keogh and Mariner avenues where the suspect had been hiding from police. Ninja reportedly searched the area while attached to a long tether. The area included a wooded backyard behind Phillips’ home on Mariner Avenue.
According to the report filed by Anderson, the leashed pit bull was barking, lying low to the ground and lunging at police and the police dog. He reported that he heard what sounded like the dog breaking its tether, then turned to see the dog charging at him.
Anderson reported that he drew his firearm and fired one shot hitting the dog in the head above the right eye.
The investigative report issued by Butler states that two other officers at the scene at the time of the shooting verified the dog broke its chain and was 60 feet from its kennel in a neighboring yard when shot.
The report determined that the dog would not have been able to reach that far if properly secured.
Butler also said photographs of the scene show a loose chain where the dog had broken away and show the dog a far distance from its dog house.
City law requires all pit bulls be confined to a pen with an enclosed top or leashed and muzzled. Owners also must carry $100,000 insurance on the animal and post signs letting others know a dog resides on the property.
Butler, in the report, stated that it was also determined the dog was not registered as required by law.
Phillips had previously maintained his dog was not acting aggressively and did not break its chain before the shooting.
Phillips and several neighbors who spoke with The Vindicator shortly after the shooting said the dog was gentle by nature and a trusted family pet.
According to Phillips, there was no apology from police, and he was treated disrespectfully after the shooting.