It happened on Manuku Street in Waianae.
"The dog jumped on the little boy that was riding his bike with his papa and the papa got scared," said Tabithah Buentipo, who lives nearby.
"What I initially saw was the grandfather hitting the dog away, to get him off the child, the child was scared and kind of shoved to the ground, it was a big dog," said another witness who wanted to remain anonymous.
Police were called to the scene.
"He was just like get back, stand back, acting like the dog was attacking somebody but he wasn't," Buentipo says.
"As the cop was talking to me and the grandfather, the dog hopped the fence and made real angry gestures toward the cop, the cop had to draw," a witness said.
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| The owner says the police officer used excessive force on her 100-lb dog |
"And then that's when the police opened fire on the dog," Buentipo says.
The injured dog left a trail of blood as shots continued.
"The officer was still with the gun drawn hoping the dog won't come again," a witness said. "He just waited for the dog to go down, but the dog hopped the fence like nothing, went into the back."
The owners of the dog, named Angel, were at work at the time. They rushed home, but a moment too late.
"The grandfather, the 4 year-old boy - I am so sorry. I was so glad he's not hurt. I'm not upset, I'm not angry at that, but the officer - he used excessive force to shoot my dog," said the dog's owner Jeannie Rapoza.
The owner says they want the matter investigated.
"There was a bullet that hit my fence, could have gone straight into the other yard. What was more lethal, the officer shooting his weapon that many times or my dog being out?" Rapoza says. "What if there were kids playing in that yard?"
Honolulu Police declined comment on this case saying, "This incident is under investigation. Officers are trained to stop a threat in situations facing a dangerous dog."
"If that's what the HPD trains their officers to do, then I guess I don't have a say in it," Rapoza says.
"When he shot him in the leg, maybe that's where he should have drawn the line...then you fire three more shots at my dog."
The Hawaiian Humane Society took the injured dog from the home, and euthanized her. The Society said "Our medical team thoroughly evaluated the dog's injuries. We couldn't save her and she was suffering.
Rapoza says, "If there's other means, humane society, tasering, pepper spraying, whatever, how come those options weren't explored...it's not just a dog it's a part of my family, and I felt like I was robbed."
The humane society said police shooting dogs is extremely rare.
(KHON - Sept 13, 2012)
