The story of a dog’s shooting death at the hands of Austin Police has exploded across Facebook, raising questions about police policy when confronted with animals.
The story was posted to the social site this weekend on a page dedicated to the topic, “Justice for Cisco.” Cisco was the Blue Heeler owner Michael Paxton says was shot down in an incident this weekend.
The page administrator describes the incident on Saturday, April 14 below:
[An] APD officer drew his gun on me in my driveway when I came from my backyard to get something from my truck … He was responding to a domestic violence call and came to my address by mistake. While I was at gunpoint my dog came from my backyard barking at the officer. I yelled for the officer to not shoot my dog, that he will not bite, but the officer immediately shot and killed my dog right in front of me. I was unable to stop or restrain Cisco because I was being held at gunpoint.
The page, put up only this weekend, has since garnered 11,000 "likes".
APD spokesperson Anthony Hipolito told the Austin American-Statesman that an investigation is ongoing, pertaining to the officer’s discharge of his weapon. The department adds that they are currently setting up a press conference to share details on this weekend's incident.
