Police Kills Dog

A Metairie man said he he is in the process of filing a complaint with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office after a deputy shot and killed his dog two weeks ago in his own backyard.


Ted Jackson - Jordan Reimer, 22, grieves near the grave of his dog, Sandy, a 2-year-old pitt bull shot and killed March 25 by a Jefferson Parish deputy sheriff.But Sheriff Office officials said deputies were there to investigate reports of gunfire, and had the owner not been engaged in illegal activities, the dog would still be alive. Jordan Reimer, 22, said his 2-year-old pitt bull, Sandy, was shot by a deputy who walked into his fenced-in yard at 2521 Elise Ave. Reimer and a friend have admitted to firing a potato gun - a home-made plastic-pipe cannon that can launch projectiles - but he said he believes the deputy shouldn't have just barged into his backyard.

"All this would have been avoided if they'd have just knocked on my front door. I'd have taken the ticket and said I'm sorry and they wouldn't have shot my dog," said Reimer Monday afternoon as he knelt by the small grave he dug for Sandy in his backyard.

The incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. on March 25, according to a Sheriff's Office incident report. After receiving a 911 call from a neighbor reporting gunfire coming from the backyard, the deputy arrived and noticed a plastic "cannon-type device" in the yard through the wooden fence, the report said.

The deputy entered the yard and Sandy approached growling and barking, the report said. The deputy pulled his pistol and fired, missing the dog as it lunged. The dog lunged a second time and the deputy fired again, hitting Sandy between the shoulders.

Reimer said he raced outside after hearing the first shot. He saw the deputy and Sandy standing about three feet apart.


Jordan Reimer - Sandy"I said, 'No, don't shoot. Don't shoot. Don't shoot. She won't hurt you,'" Reimer recalled. He said the deputy looked at him, looked back at the dog and opened fire.

Reimer and his friend, Joshua DiMaggio, 20, also of Metairie, were cited for illegal discharge of a slingshot or firearm. The pair learned how to make the potato gun by watching a video on the Internet site YouTube.com. Reimer said he didn't think it was illegal because he saw children that appeared to be firing them in their own backyards.

Still, Reimer said he believes the deputy could have used non-lethal force such as pepper spray, a Taser or a baton. Reimer said he contacted the Sheriff's office Internal Affairs Division and was instructed Monday to e-mail his side of the encounter to officials.

Reimer was joined Monday by Jeff Dorson, executive director of The Humane Society of Louisiana. Dorson said the shooting should serve as an opportunity for law enforcement to address proper training on animal confrontations. Dogs are part of most households and will protect their families and properties.

"You have to change your methodology so you don't keep shooting somebody's pet," Dorson said.
Sheriff Newell Normand said animal encounters are quite common and covered by training. Most are resolved without incident. But while dogs may be friendly with family, they can be unpredictable and aggressive with strangers.

"We will not wait until the dogs are chomping on one of the limbs of our officers to shoot," Normand said.
The sheriff said Reimer should take responsibility for his own actions - creating an illegal incendiary device that frightened neighbors and drew the attention of law enforcement.

"We wouldn't have been there in the first place had those two knuckleheads not been on YouTube trying to fabricate a cannon as opposed to reading a book," Normand said.