NOVATO, Calif.– Caution: A few of the images in this report are troubling.
The head of a California SWAT group assassinated his next-door neighbor’s dog as its senior owners searched, frightened– and it was all captured on video.
The dog had actually killed 2 chickens. A cops usage of force specialist stated the officer must not have actually opened fire.
The shooter in this case is no normal officer. He is head of the Novato, California Cops Department’s SWAT group, master at the authorities weapon variety, and a specialist in deescalation. A few of the images in this report are troubling.
When they relocated 2 years back, Phil and Anna Henry hoped Petaluma, California would be a peaceful location to retire; he’s a designer, she’s a university administrator. They desired a location their grandchildren might go to and have fun with their shelter dog called Huck. He’s a type called Black Mouth Cur.
Phil Henry: ” In the early morning, he ‘d turn up and get in our bed. (laughs)”
Anna Henry: “He wasn’t permitted at nighttime. No, could not sleep. Didn’t have a huge adequate bed.”
The problem started last summertime, when their next-door neighbor grumbled that Huck barked whenever he secured the garbage.
Phil Henry informed ABC San Francisco affiliate KGO, “And he examined the fence at me and he stated, ‘Well, if your dog ever comes by here once again, he’s not returning.'”
That next-door neighbor is head of the Novato Cops Department SWAT group, master of the department’s weapon variety, their specialist in deescalation, Sgt. Nick Frey.
Frey did not react to an ask for remark. His attorney offered a security video in which Frey states the discussion with Phil Henry about his dog.
Frey stated, “When he came by here, I stated if he came by here, I would need to– if I needed to shoot him, I would.”
That recording originates from Sunday, Sept. 18, the day Huck passed away. The Henry’s 3 grandkids were checking out.
Anna Henry informed us, “And they were playing in the garden and the dog– they were right by the gate– the dog inadvertently went out through eviction.”
Huck headed directly for Sgt. Frey’s backyard; his 2 driveways have no fencing or gate. On Frey’s security electronic camera, you can hear the Henrys’ grandchildren attempting to coax Huck house: “Huck, do you desire a reward?”
Less than a minute later on, Anna Henry shows up with Huck’s leash.
She screams, “No, Huck!”
However, the dog has actually currently started chasing after chickens that stroll loose in the backyard. Anna Henry, 71 years of ages, dives at Huck however he keeps going, eliminating one bird, appearing to wound another, as Sgt. Frey emerges from your house with a pistol ready. He screams, “Hey, ___!”
Anna Henry has the ability to leash the dog.
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Sgt. Frey screams to her, “Those are my kids’s birds!”
At the exact same time, Phil Henry is bring up with the trunk open on his SUV. Huck would typically leap right in. There’s not adequate time.
Anna Henry informed us, “I was right there. I right away asked forgiveness a lot and stated, ‘I’m so sorry, I will change the chickens,’ and I got the dog on the leash however I simply had hip replacement surgical treatment and I fell and the dog returned to a flapping chicken that he had not killed yet.”
The dog removes towards the injured chicken pulling Anna to the ground. Sgt. Frey’s other half yells: “Nick, eliminate him. ___ damn it. Eliminate that ___. (gunshots)”
The Henrys dream Frey had actually not utilized deadly force so rapidly.
Phil Henry: ” You might utilize a broom, you can utilize a tube of water. He had a lead on it. And if I had, you understand, most likely 5 more minutes, I might have had him on the lead.”
Anna Henry: “I stated, ‘Why did you do that?’ He stated. ‘He opted for me.’ I stated, ‘No, he didn’t. He was escaping from you, Nick.'”
Nick Frey: ” However, Anna, I felt threatened.”
KGO spoke to Nick Frey’s lawyer.
KGO: “Why didn’t he simply get the leash?”
Alison Berry Wilkinson: ” I believe you’re requesting for a superhuman effort there. The dog viciously and ferociously lunged at him in a flash towards him.”
Berry Wilkinson informs KGO Frey offered his next-door neighbors the possibility “to attempt and record in addition to control the dog.” The lawyer has actually dealt with authorities practices skilled Jeff Martin, who evaluated the video and declares it reveals the dog charging Sgt. Frey.
Martin stated, “If the dog is now approaching you, is charging after you after it’s damaged devoid of its owner and after the dog is shot, falls practically at your feet, what’s the rational reasoning to draw from that?”
However, the Henry household attorney conflicts that, indicating the exact same video. Anna Henry has Huck on the leash heading back house; he turns and removes in this instructions after another chicken. Sgt. Frey relocates to the right out of the method, takes his shooting position, fires 3 shots.
You can see where the dog decreases on the video. Frey then takes 7 actions ending to the right of Huck. The Henry’s lawyer states that reveals the dog was a considerable range from the sergeant and did not fall at Frey’s feet when shot.
Madeline Liebreich informed KGO, “So, it’s quite funny that he’s now choosing to argue that he was acting in self-defense since that’s a little difficult to do when the dog’s escaping from you.”
With Huck bleeding on the ground and not able to move, Anna Henry and Frey’s other half ask the sergeant to put the dog out of its anguish.
Anna Henry keeps in mind, “Jenny, his other half stated, ‘Nick, you need to help him,’ and I stated, ‘Please, Nick,’ due to the fact that I desired the dog euthanized. And he stated, ‘I’m not touching that dog.'”
Frey’s attorney reacts, “The dog was no longer a danger. He’s not warranted in simply shooting a dog for the sake of shooting a dog.”
Berry Wilkinson states he might not lawfully euthanize the dog, which, in any occasion, Frey believed the dog had actually passed away quickly after the shooting.
The Henrys thought Huck was near death, so they waited with him in the rain. An hour later on, he was still alive, so they packed him into the SUV with their child.
Rhianna Henry informed KGO, “And I climb up in the back with him due to the fact that I didn’t desire him to pass away alone, like in the back of the vehicle.”
She texted a photo to a pal who asked what was occurring; Rhianna Henry didn’t understand she had Huck’s blood on her face. He later on needed to be euthanized.
KGO found the vet who dealt with Huck that day, and she informed him the bullets struck the dog from behind, in her viewpoint.
Dr. Heather Burns stated, “There was one in the best back of his best shoulder, one right in the back of the top of the head.”
Dr. Burns shared Huck’s x-rays with us revealing the shrapnel.
KGO: ” If a dog is lunging at you and you’re shooting at the dog, injuries are going to be- (motioning to the front).”
Dr. Heather Burns: ” 100%.”
Based a minimum of in part on Sgt. Frey’s declaration that “he felt threatened by the dog and did what he felt essential to secure himself,” Sonoma County Animal Control closed the case, including that state farming code enables a dog to be killed if it’s chasing after animals or poultry.
However, a nationally-recognized authorities usage of force specialist who has actually affirmed in more than 1,300 cases has a various viewpoint.
Roger Clark informed KGO, “And I’m speaking at the level of a skilled law enforcement officer, can’t shoot to secure chickens, end of story.”
Clark is shocked that the Sonoma County Constable’s Department and Novato Cops Department where Frey works did refrain from doing their own examinations, relying rather on the Animal Control report. He concerns why Frey would open fire towards an active street – a truck goes by, simply seconds after the last gunshot. “He remains in a front backyard. I do not understand how the barrel was pointed, however if it was throughout the basic area of that vehicle, it might ricochet and strike someone in the vehicle.”
Lastly, there’s the problem of this skeleton the Frey household set up one week later on, near the area where Huck passed away. The Henrys stated it contributed to the discomfort and loss they currently felt. Frey’s lawyer stated it was simply a Halloween design they had actually utilized prior to.
Berry Wilkinson stated, “It was the exact same design they did in 2015. Was it senseless and unthinking? Yes. It was, was it meant to trigger them psychological distress and damage? Never.”
Phil Henry informed KGO, “I ‘d like for him to feel some discomfort. I suggest, I’ll always remember that day ever (sobs). And I ‘d like him to be responsible. In some way, I would like responsibility.”
While the dog got along to the Henry household and their grandchildren, we spoke with one next-door neighbor who hesitated of Huck due to the fact that the dog would bark when he strolled by. The Henrys informed KGO they aren’t sure about submitting a suit, however if they did go that path, they desire absolutely nothing on their own. They state they would contribute any profits to charity.
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