CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Stark County deputy has been fired after he shot two dogs earlier this week, killing one, authorities said.
On Friday, the Stark County Sheriff’s Department announced it had fired Deputy Alexander Stahl, who had been assigned to the sheriff’s Dog Warden Division.
On Tuesday, Stahl was following up on a 911 call reporting two aggressive dogs in the 800 block of 6th Street SW in Canton. The caller said the dogs “attacked and bit” her grandson. Police believe the dogs bit a second person, according to a news release.
Stahl found the dogs a block away from where the 911 call was made. That was when he shot both dogs with his service weapon, killing one and injuring another, the news release said.
The injured dog underwent surgery and survived. The owner of the dogs was cited for letting the dogs roam free.
“I was concerned for not only my safety but the safety of others who were near the area where two dogs bit two people,” Stahl told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer in a brief phone interview.
Stark County Sheriff Eric Weisburn said in a statement that “while aggressive stray dogs can pose a danger in our communities, there are established procedures for safely addressing these situations, and lethal force is always the last option.”
“In this case, lethal force was the first course of action, which is not acceptable to me or anyone at the Stark County Sheriff’s Office,” Weisburn said.
Stahl has been an officer since 2020. After graduating the police academy, he worked at Summit County Sheriff’s Department until mid-2022. After that, he worked at the Cleveland Clinic Police Department until taking the Stark County job in August 2024.
He resigned from Summit County and the Cleveland Clinic in good standing, state records show.
Stahl received training on “companion animal encounters” in 2023, according to the Ohio Peace Officers Training Association.
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