Off-Duty North Texas Police Officer Shoots and Kills Great Dane In Front of Family
A Mansfield, Texas police officer is being investigated for shooting and killing a family's 5-year-old Great Dane Sunday night (Oct. 29) in front of their children as they played outside in the cul-de-sac where they live.
In a Facebook post Monday morning, Carol Evans says their beloved Great Dane Cezar was "violently and wrecklessly" shot and killed by an off-duty police officer shortly after the Cowboys game. Mansfield police have since confirmed that one of their officers did in fact shoot the dog, however, the unnamed officer claims it was in self defense after the dog charged him.
But Cezars family isn't buying it.
Evans says that Cezar did get loose and ended up out front where her kids and several other neighborhood kids were riding bikes. She says the off-duty officer was walking his pit bull when Cezar walked up to them and started barking but he was not being aggressive.
Evans says she went to grab her dog and that's when the shooting happened. "I was inches away fixing to grab Cezar when he pulled a gun out and fired," she said. Cezar yelped and ran into the house.
"I immediately went into shock and fear when I saw the gun in his hand," Evans said in her post. "I didn't know if he was gonna shoot me next, the kids were all right there riding their bikes... everyone started panicking trying to get the kids inside."
At first, she thought he had fired away from the dogs to get them to stop barking, but as she was getting the kids inside, she noticed a trail of blood on her driveway and realized Cezar had been shot.
"I started screaming and looked back and he stood there smug with no remorse," she said. We dragged Cezar out from under table, blood everywhere and got him in the car." Evans says their precious Great Dane suffered and died in the car on the way to the hospital.
"There was no rustle or tussle of dogs. There was no barking, screaming or anything like that. It was five, maybe eight, seconds," the family's neighbor, Garrett Martinez told NBC 5.
Mansfield police are not releasing the name of the officer at this time and have not said if he is facing any disciplinary action. They did say the officer used a personal gun in the shooting.
The investigation into the shooting is now being handled by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
You can read Carol Evans' entire post about the incident below: