A D.C. police officer fatally shot two dogs after they escaped their family’s yard in Northwest last week.
The officer was responding to a report of a stabbing on 11th Street in Columbia Heights April 25, police said. After noticing a broken window, the officer went to the back alley.
At the time, Jeaneva Thompson’s 16-year-old daughter, Namora, had just taken their dogs — Luna and Wednesday — outside. In police body camera video, they are seen escaping the yard with a third dog.
“Sometimes they slip under the gate, and especially Wednesday,” Thompson said. “She always slipped under the gate.”
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The video then shows the officer pull out his gun and open fire.
“They got out, and all you heard was shots,” Thompson said. “They didn’t even have a chance to breathe, I guess. They just, once they got out the gate, they were dead. It was unfortunate, because I thought, when I heard the shots, I thought it was my daughter.”
The officer fired three rounds, police said.
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“They need to learn that all dogs are not aggressive, at all,” Thompson said. “All dogs are not aggressive. Luna and our puppies weren’t aggressive at all. The neighbors loved our dogs.”
Wednesday died at the scene. Luna died a short time later in the backyard. The third dog was injured.
“My mind was going sideways, everywhere,” Namora said. “It was spinning around. I was crying. I was hitting walls. I was going crazy.”
The Thompsons said Luna was pregnant.
“It’s horrible,” Namora said. “It’s traumatizing, because my mom lost her sleeping buddy, and I lost my emotional support.”
D.C. police have not said why the officer opened fire. Its internal affairs bureau is investigating the incident and says the details of the case will be reviewed to determine whether the use of force with within policy.
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