Don’t watch if you are sensitive to animals being shot. Below you can find the video footage of what happened this week in Hawthorne, CA.  The entire video is 3:34, undated, and was uploaded to YouTube on June 30th, 2013. The actual shooting doesn’t take place until the last 30 seconds. Below the video is a summary of what happens in it.

Video of Hawthorne Police Shooting a Dog Four Times:

Summary

• 0:00 — The video begins with several cop cars and one swat van parked on a residential street. There seems to be barricade situation happening at one of the homes. The recorders of the YouTube video seem to be a group of young men listening to Usher.
• 0:48 — Leon Rosby, the man in the gray shirt, is seen also recording the entry of police into the home on his smartphone. He has a rottweiler with him, on a leash. They are both a reasonable distance away from the police. Other people in the area also seem to be recording the police raid, some even have camcorders.
• 1:43 — The police are seen continually staring at Rosby. It is at this point in the video that you get the feeling something is about to go down. Rosby expresses some muffled language saying something to the effect of, “Why aren’t there any black cops?” The police begin to walk in his direction.
• 2:18 — Rosby is upset, saying something about a civil rights violation and other terms about all the cops being white. Rosby puts his dog into the back seat of the car as the police are approaching him. One could assume that Rosby does this so the dog does not interfere with the interaction that is about to take place. Only Rosby forgets one thing, the windows in the backseat of the car are rolled down.
• 2:40 — Rosby gets handcuffed; his dog is upset and barking.
• 3:10 — The dog jumps from the window and rushes the police. The dog is barking loudly and is beginning to protect his owner, Rosby, who is surrounded by three police who are about to put him into the backseat of the police car. One of the police officer’s has his gun drawn at the barking dog. Rosby is telling “Don’t shoot it! Don’t shoot my dog!” Rosby tries to shoo his dog away by kicking the air.
• 3:22 — The office with the gun attempts to reach for the dog’s leash. In response, the dog jumps in the air and barks loudly. The police officer with the gun is untouched, but feels threatened. The office shoots the dog, not once, twice, or even three times. Four shots are fired directly into the dog. The last moments of the video show the dog kicking the air, and squealing on the pavement while the officer still has his gun pointed at the animal. The officers that were holding Rosby move him away from the scene.

This event was a series of things that shouldn’t have happened. The police of Hawthorne have yet to give a statement, as of July 1st, 2013.