VETERAN POLICE OFFICER KILLS PIT BULL DURING DRUG RAID

Department Rules Shooting Was Justified

A veteran Green Bay police officer shot and killed a pit bull during an
early morning drug raid Friday, police reported Monday.

Agents from the Brown County Drug Task Force and officers from the Green
Bay Police Department's Community Policing unit served a warrant on a home
in the 1900 block of Eastman Avenue, according to a department press release.

As officers tried to enter the home, the occupant tried to barricade the
door and officers were met by two adult pit bulls, which were snarling and
barking, the release said.

As the entry team forced its way into the home, officers sprayed a pepper
spray irritant at the occupant blocking the door and at the dogs.

The spray, designed to make it difficult to see and breathe, subdued the
man and one of the dogs, but the second animal continued to advance, police
said.

A community police officer fired one round from a shotgun at the dog,
prompting it to retreat into the home.

When the officers encountered the dog again in the home's kitchen, the
animal was still acting aggressively and the same officer shot it a second
time, according to the press release.

The officer is a 17-year veteran of the Green Bay Police Department and a
member of the department's SWAT team.

A 33-year-old woman inside the home suffered injuries to her chest and
upper arm from flying metal fragments from the second shot.

She was taken to a local hospital where she was treated and released.

A 26-year-old man was arrested in the home and made an initial appearance
in Brown County intake court on misdemeanor drug possession charges.

The department's press release said department supervisors determined the
shooting was justified.