Sheriff: Deputies justified in pit bull shooting in Perinton

NEW YORK -- Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn says his deputies did nothing wrong when they shot and killed a pit bull in Perinton two weeks ago.

The sheriff says his deputies followed their training and the law when they fired at the dog, which the sheriff described as extremely aggressive.

The dog named Diablo belonged to Gary Brockler. He’s hired a lawyer to go after the sheriff’s office, but the sheriff says the deputies did what they’re trained to do.

"They responded to the threat of the dog when it came out of the garage when they were up by the house and approached in an extremely aggressive manner, and discharged their weapons as they would be trained,” O’Flynn said.

Brockler says his dog was not aggressive and well liked by his neighbors. However, O'Flynn says the investigation proved otherwise.

"Approximately eight to 10 people contacted us and advised that the dog was anything but a docile dog. When it came to the neighborhood, we had two complaints of dog calls at that house and one of them had to do with loose dogs involving one here that was an ongoing problem and was chasing people," O’Flynn said.

The Sheriff says he was prepared to announce the results of the investigation earlier, but decided to hold off because of another investigation.

"We became aware of a search warrant that was executed on Mr. Brockler's house and Mr. Brockler from the Wayne County Drug Task Force. About eleven months ago, they executed that search warrant, and the case is ongoing, and I did not want to compromise that case, so we had to hold off and make sure that the information we bring out today doesn't adversely affect their case. "

 YNN contacted Gary Brockler for a response to the Sheriff's Office investigation. Brockler said he was advised by his attorney not to comment.

(News 10NBC and YNN - June 15, 2012)