Fort Worth policeman under investigation for shooting dog

TEXAS -- A Fort Worth police deputy chief is under investigation for shooting a dog while off-duty Monday night.

Kenneth Flynn has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on restricted duty pending the outcome of a criminal and administrative investigation, police officials confirmed Thursday.

Flynn’s attorney, Robert Rogers of Dallas, said the shooting occurred after the dog, which he described as a German shepherd, “attacked and killed the deputy chief’s cat.”

“There was an eyewitness to the attack of the cat,” Rogers said.

Rogers said Flynn was aware of the fatal mauling of his cat when he shot the dog.

“He had that knowledge when he encountered this dangerous, vicious animal running loose,” Rogers said.

Police Chief Jeff Halstead said the shooting was reported to a police supervisor.

“The allegations are serious and our department will fully investigate these matters, holding any and all employees accountable, to sustain the public’s trust for our department and our profession,” Halstead said in an email to the Star-Telegram.

The shooting occurred Monday night in the 1300 block of East Oak Grove Road, according a Fort Worth police report.

Detectives with the department’s special investigation unit were called out to the scene. The call, the report states, involved “shots fired inside the city limits.”

“A white male in a black SUV was reported to have shot at a dog with a handgun,” the report states.

At the time of the report, the dog could not be located and it was unknown if it had been hit. On Thursday, Sgt. Steven Enright, a police spokesman, confirmed that the dog had been shot and is now dead.

Police officials declined to answer other specific questions regarding the incident.

“There is a criminal and administrative investigation being conducted involving the shooting of a dog by a Fort Worth police officer that occurred on Monday night,” Enright said in an email.

Flynn was named deputy chief in March 2008 by then acting Chief Pat Kneblick.

Halstead later demoted him to a newly created rank of major in 2011 under a management reshuffling that whittled the number of deputy chief positions to three. The rank of major was later eliminated and Flynn’s title returned to deputy chief.

He is currently over the investigative and support command, according to the department’s website.

(Star-telegram.com - Oct 2, 2014)