The Los Angeles Police Department released graphic body camera footage Friday showing the moment an officer fatally shot a pet dog inside an apartment complex last week.
The widely publicized incident occurred on June 13 after police responded to a call from a neighbor who said she heard a woman screaming and requested a wellness check. The woman, Marie Marseille, later said she had been screaming in celebration of the New York Knicks’ NBA victory.
The newly released video includes footage from the body cameras of two officers. In the footage, Marseille answers her door for the officers as her dog, a 2-year old Bernedoodle named Jameson, can be heard barking.
They ask her to confine the dog, and after she shuts the door, one officer says to the other, “Jeez, that’s a big-ass dog.” As they discuss the dog’s size, the other remarks, “I ain’t gettin’ bit by that, bro.”
When Marseille opens the door again, she tells the officers that her dog is “not aggressive.” Jameson, wearing a New York Knicks shirt, walks out of the door and runs towards one of the officers, barking. At that point, the officer fires multiple shots, killing Jameson, as Marseille screams. Witness video of the aftermath showed Marseille covering the dog’s body with her own, weeping.
The LAPD footage, which is graphic and disturbing, can be seen here.
Brett Greenfield, an attorney for Marseille and her family, condemned the officers’ actions in a statement sent to local news station ABC 7.
“Jameson was not the subject of any complaint,” Greenfield wrote. “He was not threatening the public. He was a beloved family companion inside his own home. Yet a welfare check ended with him dead, his owner traumatized, and serious questions about the judgment and conduct of the officer who pulled the trigger.”
The attorney also wrote that Marseille was “standing in or near the officer’s line of fire,” adding that it is “fortunate that Marie Marseille is alive today.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell called the incident “incredibly tragic” in a statement released Wednesday and promised a “full and comprehensive review’ of what happened.
Jameson’s killing fueled widespread backlash online — including from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — and a GoFundMe created by Marseille’s son, Jeremiah Garcia, had garnered more than $200,000 by Saturday evening.
“Anyone who’s met Jameson would tell you he is the sweetest boy in the world,” Garcia wrote.
