Police Chief: Charging Dogs Led Officers To Fire Their Weapons
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami Police says two of his officers were forced to fire their weapons when they responded to a domestic call at a home where shots had been fired and the officers were met by three vicious dogs.
Chopper4 captured some dramatic images as police with guns drawn and the SWAT team moved in on a home on Northwest 50th St. at N.W. 9th Ave.
Vernon Brinson, a neighbor, told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "The only thing I heard when I was standing outside about 20 or 30 minutes ago was I heard two shots. Then I saw the police come."
"Were you worried?" Brinson was asked.
"Uh huh, yes," he replied. "I wanted to go inside my house and lie down on the floor."
Dozens of officers responded to the scene at 11 a.m. as several blocks were sealed off with yellow crime scene tape.
"Upon arrival at the residence, the officers were met by a vicious dog and two officers had to discharge their firearms," Llanes told D'Oench. "There were no injuries to any residents or officers. This will be treated like any other police involved shooting. The officers will be assigned to desk duty until the investigation is complete."
Llanes said the officers had no choice but to fire their weapons.
"The officers when they responded were in a heightened state of alert because they were responding to a shots fired call," said Llanes. "They were met by a number of vicious dogs. I believe there were three in all. One dog attacked the officer and he shot him."
The SWAT team was called out as a precaution.
"A little bit later there was an account of bodies and we didn't know if there were other offenders inside so we decided to have the SWAT team clear out the house," said Llanes. "It's a dangerous job and officers are trained to handle these situations and I think this time they responded to their training."
He said the three dogs were pit bull mixes. The wounded dog was treated at the scene. The other two dogs were taken from the home.
Llanes said there was no information to release yet on the man who was arrested and it was not clear what charges he will face.
