The Los Angeles Police Department has released body-camera footage showing the moment officers shot and killed a woman's dog in the hallway outside her apartment in the Canoga Park neighborhood. The incident occurred on June 13 after police responded to reports of a woman screaming, which turned out to be cheering when the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA Finals.
Footage Shows Fatal Encounter
The body-worn camera video captures Marie Marseille opening her door for officers. Her two-year-old golden Saint Bernard doodle, Jameson, runs to the door and barks at the officers, whose faces are blurred in the footage. One officer immediately draws his gun, aiming first toward the ground then lifting it toward the doorway. “Put your dog away!” one officer shouts. “That’s a big-ass dog,” the officer wearing the camera says to his partner. “I ain’t getting bit by that, bro,” the officer holding his pistol responds.
Marseille returns to the door and appears to hold it to keep the dog inside but does not shut it entirely. She tells officers the dog is not aggressive. Jameson, wearing a blue Knicks jersey, walks into the hallway and barks again, pauses, then takes a step forward and barks. The officer with his drawn pistol then fires four times. Both Marseille and the other officer are standing behind the dog.
Second Officer Also Drew Weapon
The footage suggests the other officer also raised a pistol into view when his partner shot. Images from the body-worn camera of the officer who fired appear to show the other officer carrying two guns. During the first interaction, his right hand hovers over what seems to be his service pistol. After Marseille puts her dog away, he uses his other hand to unholster what appears to be a separate pistol, which he holds in his left hand through the rest of the encounter.
Viral Video and Investigation
A video of Marseille sobbing and hugging Jameson's body went viral after the shooting. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she spoke with Police Chief Jim McDonnell to ensure an investigation into the use of force against the dog. NBC4 reporter Eric Leonard noted that LAPD released the video faster than normal but did not provide raw footage. Instead, the footage had been edited and officers' faces blurred, which Leonard called unusual: “We’ve been looking at these body-worn videos for years. I don’t remember another instance where officers’ faces were blurred ever before.”
