Crime

Detroit Cops Kill Woman's 3 Dogs; Lawsuit Accuses Them of Being a 'Dog Death Squad'

May 27, 2016, 12:14 PM
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By Annabel Ames 

A woman whose three dogs were shot and killed by Detroit Police Department officers is demanding answers in a newly filed federal lawsuit, which describes the cops as being a "dog death squad."

On Jan. 14, officers executed a  search warrant at a suspected drug house in the 18000 block of Sussex Street in northwest Detroit, WDIV reporter Mara MacDonald reports. When the officers arrived, owner Nikita Smith disclosed that she had three dogs—two pitbulls, named Debo and Mama, and Smoke, a rottweiler. She said she would put them away. 

Smith put Debo and Mama downstairs, and closed the door to the bathroom, where Smoke was lying down, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. . 

But when Debo managed to get around a blockade in the basement and sit next to Smith, who was about 10 feet away from the officers, a cop shot him, WDIV reports.

They then fired multiple shots through the closed bathroom door, killing Smoke, and went downstairs to the basement, where they shot and killed Mama, who was pregnant, MacDonald reports.

According to the  lawsuit, after the gunfire was over, one of the officers, John Gaines laughed and said to another officer:

“Did you see that? I got that one good!”

 A police officer then said to Smith: 

“I should have killed you, too.” 

Christopher Olsen, a Royal Oak attorney for Smith, said his client was forthcoming with the police by informing them that she had animals in her home. Olsen has previously represented clients who have claimed that police officers have unnecessarily killed their pets.

"This is the worst one I've encountered by far," Olsen told the station.

 The video from Local 4 News shows multiple bullet holes through Smith's bathroom door. 

 


Read more:  Local 4 News


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