In the event you were wondering what’s happened to the cop responsible for shooting that dog in the gut-wrenching video we posted the other day, well, here’s an update: the cop who shot and killed the dog, along with the other two cops seen in the video arresting its owner, have been pulled from street duty for their own protection.
Reports the Daily Breeze:
Three police officers appearing in a video in which one shoots and kills a dog as they arrested its owner in Hawthorne were pulled from street duty on Wednesday following numerous death threats against them and their families, police said.
The decision to assign the officers to duties within the station for their safety followed an inundation of threats over the telephone, on Facebook and in emails, Hawthorne police Lt. Scott Swain said.
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“I understand that people have been affected by this video. Anyone would be,” Swain said. “The police officers involved are affected by this incident and having to kill a dog. I don’t understand how it translates into an eye for an eye. ‘We are going to kill you and your family because of this incident.’ Like in my case. I wasn’t even working that night.”
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“There’s a lot of calls coming in where people are calling us names and dog killers,” Swain said. “They are entitled to their opinions and to make comments like that, but where you cross the line is when you make the threat against the safety of police officers and police officers’ family members.”
Most of the calls were from people offering opinions, but some threats deemed “valid” are under investigation by other law enforcement agencies, Swain said. Officers in the field have been told to be “extra vigilant.”
“There’s been death threats. You’d like to believe that maybe some of the people are just venting, but then you’ve got to be realistic — there are crazy people out there,” Swain said.
Additionally, the town’s police chief issued a letter to citizens of the community over the incident…
Hawthorne police chief’s letter to the community concerning the dog shooting
And here’s an interview an LA-area news station did with Leon Rosby, the owner of the dog that was killed…
Everything about this is just sad and terrible.