from the sorry.-I-shot-the-wrong-non-threatening-life-form dept
Cops love shooting dogs almost more than they like casually violating constitutional rights. Even the DOJ called cop-on-dog violence an “epidemic.”
Cops dress like warriors, plaster their cars with Punisher logos, declare themselves the “thin blue line”… and then act like small woodland creatures the moment they encounter anything slightly unexpected. Guns, tasers, body armor, backup at the ready — none of that matters when something small and furry starts moving across a yard.
The only thing that’s more stupid and disturbing than a cop shooting a small dog is a cop attempting to shoot a small dog, but shooting a human instead. This happens far too often as well, because cops are bad at shooting and love shooting at dogs, all of which usually have human owners in the vicinity.
This shooting was caught on the deputy’s own body camera, which means the usual denials are pretty much foreclosed when this bad shot/bad cop starts asking for qualified immunity.
A lawsuit has been filed against a Columbia County deputy, the sheriff, and the sheriff’s office after the deputy shoots at a dog, but strikes a woman standing on her front porch instead.
Tina Hight, the woman who was shot in August 2022, still has the bullet lodged in her shin. She’s now not only dealing with anxiety but also continuous doctor’s appointments.
She initially called 911 for help, but instead was shot on her own front porch she told Seven On Your Side.
In the video, Columbia County Deputy Brian Williams is heard shouting at the dog: “Get back, get your dog, I’ll kill this ************. Get your God**** dog.”
Here’s the body cam video:
Whoa. The dog was a Pomeranian. The woman was on the porch. So was another deputy, according to the lawsuit [PDF].
Let’s put things in perspective. Here’s the “threat” posed to Deputy Brian Williams, who I assume was a full-grown human man:
Pomeranians are small dogs weighing 1.36–3.17 kilograms (3.0–7.0 lb) and standing 8–14 inches (20–36 cm) high at the withers.
Also:
Classed as a toy dog breed because of its small size, the Pomeranian is descended from larger Spitz-type dogs, specifically the German Spitz.
Something that could have been handled by a human foot was handled with bullets. And the shot that Deputy Williams sent into Tina Hight’s leg (rather than the dog we can only assume he was aiming at) wasn’t the only shot fired by the deputy that couldn’t shoot straight.
This is from Hight’s lawsuit:
On August 30, 2022, Defendant Deputy Brian Williams had been dispatched to the plaintiff’s home.
Once there, Deputy Williams heard dogs barking. In response to the animals, Deputy Williams fired his service weapon into the air.
I’m no animal expert, but I’m fairly sure most domestic animals are unfamiliar with the concept of “warning shots.” I’ve owned several dogs over the years and not even once has any of them heard a loud, unfamiliar noise and decided to respond with anything else but more barking.
Having discovered that his cop version of “Reply All” didn’t work, Deputy Williams escalated.
After the first shot, one of the Plaintiff’s dogs, a small Pomeranian mix, ran at Deputy Williams.
In response, Deputy Williams fired at the dog, striking the Plaintiff in the leg.
And that’s not even the stupidest part of this irrational decision by Deputy Williams.
Another deputy was standing literally inches away from the Plaintiff when Deputy Williams fired at the small dog.
It is only through sheer luck that Deputy Williams did not kill the Plaintiff, or the other Deputy.
The only thing worse than shooting a citizen is shooting another LEO. Deputy Williams lucked out. But instead of enjoying his brief flirtation with his subjective worst case scenario (capping another cop), Williams had to say stupid things.
When Hight’s niece pointed out Deputy Williams had shot Hight instead of the tiny furball he felt compelled to kill, he first tried to blame Hight’s wound on one of her other dogs, claiming she must have been scratched by her dog, rather than shot by an irrationally fearful deputy who thought barking demanded use of deadly force.
Denials are futile when there are recordings. And there’s a lot of precedent showing that being shot is a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. Claiming the shot was meant for a dog isn’t much help. Shooting dogs that don’t present a reasonable threat is also a Fourth Amendment violation.
Then there’s the “reasonableness” factor. If there’s another deputy (on the porch, no less!) that didn’t feel Hight’s dogs posed a threat, the other deputy on the scene who immediately opted for deadly force can’t really claim his response was the most “reasonable” under the circumstances.
This looks like a loss for Deputy Williams. It also looks like a loss for his employers. And that’s not the sheriff’s department that’s also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. It’s the residents of the county that have the misfortune of being policed by Deputy I Started Blasting. They’re going to end up paying for this suit, whatever defense the deputy offers, and his eventual firing/continued employment. And all Deputy Williams had to do to avoid this was simply decide a tiny dog running towards him could be handled with a boot, or a shove, or a handful of harshly deployed words.
Filed Under: brian williams, columbia county, dogs, police, tina hight
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