A police officer fatally shot an aggressive pit bull in Brooklyn Sunday, sparking outrage from neighbors who said the cop went too far.
The officer and his partner showed up at an apartment on the 10th floor of a building on Plaza Street in Prospect Heights at about 4:30 a.m., looking for a man who had allegedly skipped out on a cab fare and left his wallet with the driver as collateral, police said.
When someone inside the apartment opened the door, the dog charged cops, forcing one to draw his weapon and fire five shots at the animal, killing it, officials said.
But the dog, named Lola, was a sweetheart who likely posed no threat to police, according to several neighbors who said cops were too quick to shoot.
“It just seems wildly disproportionate, to shoot five times like that,” one 32-year-old neighbor said. “I’ve shared many an elevator ride with Lola, and she was always very sweet. I never felt unsafe.”
“[Lola] was so sweet. She wasn’t aggressive at all,” neighbor Victoria O’Niell said. “[The owners] were so in love with that dog. I feel so bad for them.”
Several photos posted to owner Diego Azurdia’s Facebook show him chumming around with Lola, including one where he’s giving a thumbs-up while embracing the dog inside her cage.
Neither officer was injured but both went to an area hospital for tinnitus, officials said.