Fearing his safety, Warwick officer shoots and kills two 'aggressive' dogs

Posted 8/15/19

The Warwick Police Department released the following information pertaining to the incident:

On August 15, 2019 at approximately 8:32 a.m. the Warwick Police Department responded to the area of …

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Fearing his safety, Warwick officer shoots and kills two 'aggressive' dogs

Posted

The Warwick Police Department released the following information pertaining to the incident:

On August 15, 2019 at approximately 8:32 a.m. the Warwick Police Department responded to the area of 198 Buttonwoods Ave. for the report of three large dogs roaming loose that appeared to be aggressive. As officers were responding to the scene, they learned that one of the three dogs was reported to have bitten the reporting party.

The three dogs were located at short time later in the area of 150 Keeley Ave by Officer Jeremy Smith, a 5-year veteran of the department and a Warwick Animal Control officer.

As the Animal Control Officer moved towards his vehicle to retrieve the proper tools required to safely take custody of the dogs, two of the three dogs aggressively charged at Officer Smith. As Officer Smith attempted to retreat to his police vehicle, the dogs charged at him at which point he feared for his safety and discharged his firearm in an attempt to stop the imminent attack.

Two of the three dogs were shot and died at the scene. The third dog fled the area and at last report is still at large.

This incident remains under investigation by the Warwick Police Department’s Professional Standards Division pursuant to our agencies Use of Force policy.

Anyone with information related to this incident or the whereabouts of the missing dog is requested to contact the Warwick Police Department at (401)468-4200.

Comments

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  • JohnStark

    Good for Officer Smith! Could have been some little kids.

    Friday, August 16, 2019 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    Irresponsible owner should face charges and be forbidden from owning anything larger than a gerbil while residing in Warwick.

    Not securing dangerous animals is as irresponsible as leaving a loaded firearm unsecured and unattended.

    Friday, August 16, 2019 Report this

  • SaltyJake

    Officer Smith did a great job protecting the public. That's what WPD is paid to do. He retreated as far as he could until an attack on him was imminent. The dog owner should be held responsible for failure to secure her dogs properly...resulting in a person attacked.

    Friday, August 16, 2019 Report this

  • JamesBruder

    No one wants to see an animal killed, that being said if it were aggressively running at me all bets are off. The owners should be fined. Great job mitigating the situation WPD.

    Friday, August 16, 2019 Report this

  • Jimnorm

    I hope there were body cams on that trigger happy cop? So far no confirmation of any person coming forward that was bitten. You have two dogs, medium sized, mixed breeds, no record of aggressiveness with owners in neighborhood looking for them and witnessed their dogs being shot. Some neighbors at scene saying the cop was trigger happy and aggressively trying to corner the dogs. Why not give animal control the opportunity to do their job as they are more trained with animals. Any firing of guns in our neighborhoods by anyone should be proven to be a life defense situation and I'd live to see a body cam footage of this one. I saw the picture of these two dogs. Give me a break! Unnecessary and I hope a lawyer gets involved from the owner!

    Saturday, August 17, 2019 Report this

  • Scal1024

    Jimn, the officer responded to a call for a man that suffered a dog bite. He arrives on scene and has 2 dogs running loose and acting aggressively charging towards him. In that scenario he doesn't have time to speak to the victim he's going off the information he knows. For you and others to throw words like "trigger happy" around is reckless and irresponsible.

    I don't know anyone who would be happy these animals were shot, including the officer himself. These dogs can be violent even when unprovoked and in those cases I'm sorry but there should be VERY LITTLE room for 2nd chances. This could have been someones child and then it's a completely different conversation we're having. Or would you still be defending these dogs in that scenario as well? I applaud the officer for acting quickly and making what he no doubt thought was the right decision. Easy to 2nd guess from behind a computer but Officer Smith didn't have that luxury.

    Saturday, August 17, 2019 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    I dont see enough information yet to conclusively applaud or condemn the officer, but what I do know is that WPD VERY rarely uses their firearms. Considering how excellent this department really is, it's easy for me to give the benefit of the doubt. Officer's do a hard job day in and day out, and they cant forget it all when they go home. Our tragedy is often their tragedy too.

    Sunday, August 18, 2019 Report this

  • Scal1024

    Wwkvoter, if you go on NBC10 or WPRI both have released surveillance video from CVS which shows 2 dogs aggressively approaching an employee. One of the dogs lunges and bites the womens shirt before running away. That video, along with a call to to Police stating someone had been bit by a dog and that 2 dogs remained loose I'm not sure what other evidence needs to come in? I'm glad you referenced the fact WPD rarely uses force. When putting all of those facts together I have a hard time blaming the officer. It's so easy to second guess a split second decision, days later from the comfort of our own homes but they don't have that luxury. Officer Smith was protecting himself and I believe him 100%.

    Sunday, August 18, 2019 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    Wow I just viewed that, and you're right, as I thought. No employee group of hundreds is going to be 100% perfect people, which is why we scrutinize these irreversible decisions until we get it figured out. But you're right this looks like an unavoidable tragedy resulting from a known biter and a second dog charging the responding officer. I'm not sure even an animal lover would want our police to take bites to see how bad it is before they protect themselves.

    Sunday, August 18, 2019 Report this

  • KeepCalmandCarryOn

    I'm a big fan of law enforcement. In this case, I don't like the way it was handled with the shooting of these dogs. I've been a dog owner my whole life. One of them bit someone earlier so I suspect it was scared. Shooting the dogs was the option of choice?

    The Owner shares in the responsibility in the end result of these dogs and shouldn't be allowed to ever own another one. Large dogs (and small ones too) need to be walked often and need exercise and play. I see it in my own area, people owning large dogs and just put them out in a small yard where they end up barking incessantly or getting out from being left alone. it's totally irresponsible.

    Why wasn't a taser used instead of a gun?

    Sunday, August 25, 2019 Report this

  • ThatGuyInRI

    Inquiring minds want to know:

    Is Kayla McKenna still "...there, every single day until that officer gets fired?"

    I'm wondering because I drive by the station at least once a day and I've never seen here out front protesting or anything.

    Tuesday, September 17, 2019 Report this

  • ThatGuyInRI

    Forgot, here's the link: https://turnto10.com/news/local/warwick-pd-shot-and-killed-two-dogs

    Tuesday, September 17, 2019 Report this