Shocking surveillance footage shows the moment an Iowa police officer shot and killed a family's dog in front of their two traumatized young children, just weeks after the same officer allegedly shot and killed a different dog nearby.
Davenport Police Department Officer Ethan Bock fired his gun at his 2-year-old dog, Mist, last Wednesday after responding to a 911 call about four other aggressive dogs wandering the street. The officer said.
Footage of the fatal crash Released by family Footage later showed officers pulling up next to boys riding their bikes up and down an alleyway, with their tails wagging dogs in tow.
Shortly after telling the children to come into the house with the dog and take the leash, an officer is seen getting out of his patrol car and walking toward the house.
The dog's owner, Don Hesseltine, said the boys had been complying with officers' demands when a barking Mist ran up to officers in the front yard, causing chaos.
“As the dog ran up to him he decided his best option was to pull out his gun and murder the dog in front of my child, his cousin and his mother, who were just standing there and could have easily been shot as well,” an outraged Hesseltine wrote to X, along with security camera footage.
After the gunshots rang out, two young boys could be heard screaming and sobbing as they watched the wounded dog run back towards the house.
The harrowing video shows the crying dog writhing in pain for several seconds before going limp.
Mist eventually died just a few steps from the porch, Hesseltine said.
The incident sparked immediate outrage after footage was released on social media, with infuriated locals calling for the officers to be fired.
An online Change.org petition calling for “accountability” has already garnered more than 4,000 signatures.
Police said they were still investigating the incident and later defended the officers' actions, saying they only fired when the dog “became aggressive.”
“Davenport Police responded to the 800 block of North Pine Street for a report of four dogs that were loose and acting aggressively. The caller stated the dogs were climbing over a fence and trying to get to their dog,” police said in a statement.
“Officers were responding to a call in an alley in the 2100 block of Telegraph Road when a dog ran out of a yard in the direction of the officers. Released video shows the officer slowly backing away as the dog advances. The dog's behavior became aggressive, at which point the officer fired his weapon at the dog.”
Meanwhile, this incident comes just weeks after the same officer was accused of hitting another family's dog with his patrol car in a nearby alley on the night of July 13. The Quad City Times reported..
First, CeEdward Spears said he was taking out the trash with his dog around 10 p.m. when he encountered officers.
Spears claims she warned officers that her dog was loose in the area just minutes before the dog was hit.
“I said, 'Stop, dog,' and it stopped. It saw me. And it sped off,” Spears told the outlet.
Body camera footage of Bock obtained by the outlet showed the officer getting out of his car and approaching the dead dog.
“Damn it,” he can be heard saying before radioing for help.
“That's why dogs have to be on a leash,” he added, as a confused Spears approached.
The Post reached out to the Davenport Police Department about both incidents but did not immediately receive a response.
