Off-duty Chicago police officer shoots neighbor’s dog

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Recently released surveillance camera footage shows the shocking moment an off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a neighbor’s dog after it escaped and allegedly attacked her own pet.

Footage released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) shows the moment a Chicago Police Department officer fired her weapon at a dog while walking her own corgi in the Bridgeport neighborhood on April 21.

“You shot my dog! Why?” the dog owners can be heard shouting at the police officer in the released recordings.

The officer, identified in COPA’s case report as Carmen Mostek, was walking her corgi on a leash around 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning when she encountered another dog that had escaped from its owner’s home, COPA said in a news release.

In a tactical response report, Ms. Mostek describes the escaped dog as a pit bull that apparently escaped from his backyard.

Mrs. Mostek claimed in an emergency call that the escaped dog had tried to attack her own dog.

The escaped dog began to “attack” the off-duty officer’s pet on the street, and the owner of the escaped dog came out and attempted to separate the two animals, COPA’s press release said.

The surveillance footage also shows the owner of the escaped dog lying on the ground, possibly trying to hold onto his dog.

The officer said the escaped dog “jumped” on her pet and began attacking it by biting near its neck and “strike aggressively and at a high rate of speed,” she stated in a tactical response report filed with the Chicago Police Department.

COPA said preliminary information indicated that shortly after the owner attempted to intervene and “as the owner regained control,” the off-duty officer drew her weapon and fired one shot at the dog.

The dog was killed by the shot. No one was hit.

“I thought my dog ​​would be killed in a split second if I didn’t intervene,” the officer stated in the report.

In the surveillance camera footage, the owner can be seen lying on the ground in the street after possibly trying to control his pet, which is running around with the officer’s corgi, when the sound of a gunshot is heard.

The owner of the shot dog is then heard saying, “You shot my dog! Why?” and then continuing to scream.

According to the video, Ms. Mostek and her own dog appear to have quickly left the scene of the accident. After the incident, she called 911.

“Hi, I’m an off-duty police officer. I’m on the corner of 29th and Normal. My dog ​​was attacked by a dog and I had to shoot him. The neighbor is freaking out,” she said in the phone call released by the organization.

Due to the “severity” of the incident, COPA has recommended that Chicago Police review the officer’s current assignment and determine whether administrative duties or relief are warranted as the investigation progresses.

The police department stated in initial reports at the time that no charges had been filed in connection with this incident.