York City Police officers responded to a call Sunday morning on Jessup Place for a neighbor dispute, a fairly routine call.
It ended with two dogs being shot by a police officer, one fatally. The other dog was euthanized later, the dog’s owner said.
Police Commissioner Michael Muldrow posted an account of the incident on Facebook, expressing his condolences to the family while justifying the officer’s action, reporting that the officer had been bitten three times by one of the dogs.
A police department spokesman said the department “would not be putting out any more information at this time.”
The dogs’ owner, Ashley Leiphart, disputed the commissioner’s version of the story and said the police response was “very excessive” and that the shooting of her dogs in front of her 5-year-old nephew had traumatized the boy.
“”I’m going to see what I can do to get justice for my two dogs,” Leiphart said. “There was no reason for this.”
Muldrow posted a detailed account of his review of his officers’ reports and footage from their body cameras. He wrote that the initial dispute had escalated to the point where one participant was taken to York Hospital after “allegedly being pistol whipped by a known actor,” Muldrow posted on Facebook, describing that as an offense that constitutes felony aggravated assault.
While investigating, Muldrow wrote, officers identified the suspects and were directed to the home. As police protocol calls for, officers were positioned in front of the home and to the rear, off the alley.
The officers were met by two young women, Muldrow wrote. The officers explained why they were there and who they were looking for.
One of the women told the officers she owned the home and that the men the officers were seeking were no longer at the home, Muldrow wrote. The officers told her they needed to check the home because of the “severity of the allegations and the potential firearm,” Muldrow wrote. The woman who identified herself as the homeowner initially was uncooperative, Muldrow said, telling the officers to “get a warrant.” Subsequently, Muldrow wrote, she acquiesced to the officers’ request.
“While preparing to enter,” Muldrow wrote, “there was a brief discussion between the homeowner and the officers in the front about the dogs and people inside.”
The homeowner told the officers that “the dogs weren’t going to like seeing the officers.”
The officers asked that the dog be put in the backyard and all of the people in the house, including children, come out front, Muldrow wrote. The woman put the dogs on the back deck. Muldrow wrote that she is heard on a body camera saying “get down” to the dogs.
Officers commenced a search of the house while one officer remained stationed in the 2,400-square-foot back yard, Muldrow wrote.
“Shortly afterwards,” Muldrow wrote, “a small child is seen emerging from the rear of the house alone.” The child approaches the officer and asks about his Taser. The officer asks the child if he could have his mother secure the gate on the deck, which had been secured with a baby gate propped up against it, Muldrow wrote.
“Suddenly,” Muldrow wrote, “the two dogs appear in view (from the officer’s right) charging towards him. At that time, the officer pulls his firearm and responds, discharging his weapon multiple times, seemingly striking both dogs.”
Leiphart disputes that account. The house is her cousin’s home, she said, and she was present when police arrived. She said her cousin told police that nobody was in the house and there were no firearms in the house and consented to a search. While the police were searching the house, she said, they heard six gunshots in the backyard.
They ran outside, screaming. Leiphart’s nephew was out back and they were terrified that something happened to him. He was terrified, she said, but physically unharmed. He told her, “They killed my dog.”
The dogs – 10-month-old German shepherds and litter mates named Colt and Wesson – had been shot, Leiphart said. Colt was shot in the face and died instantly, she said. Wesson was shot in the leg and ran away, found about a block away under a bridge, bleeding profusely. When they took Wesson to the emergency vet office on South Queen Street, he had lost too much blood and was too severely injured to be saved and had to be euthanized. Leiphart said.
Leiphart was upset about the dogs, but she was even more upset that her nephew witnessed the shooting and that by firing at the dogs in his presence, the officer had placed her nephew in jeopardy. “My nephew was five feet away when he shot,” Leiphart said. “He could have shot my nephew.”
Muldrow wrote that one dog fell and the other ran away, Muldrow wrote. The officer could be heard on the video saying that he had been bitten, the commissioner reported. Officers later located the second dog and returned it to its owner to get care, Muldrow wrote.
Leiphart said she and her cousin found Wesson under the nearby bridge. One of the officers, she said, had stayed with them and was upset about what happened.
A supervisor and officers at the scene tried to follow up with the homeowner, “but they were understandably to upset at the time,” Muldrow wrote.
The officer was treated for “three dog bites to his right leg from one or both dogs,” Muldrow wrote. One bite, he wrote, punctured “the 1-1/2 inch leather wallet in his pocket,” the commissioner wrote.
“While it’s important to recognize that the Law permits Officers to Use Force against ‘threatening animals’ in lawful situations (as was in fact the case on this occasion), I recognize these were still beloved family pets to these owners, so (once again) my heart goes out to them (and all who witnessed it),” Muldrow wrote.
“With that said … I’m sorry the dogs were harmed, I’m glad the Officer is safe; and I’ll be following up with the family, the Officers involved, my Department team, and City Administration to see if there’s anything else we can do to help them or support that child through the traumatic experience,” the commissioner wrote.
He wrote, “As a pet owner the incident is heartbreaking. I too cherish my dog, view them as part of the family and would be greatly upset at the loss. It should never be an Officers goal to take a life (people or pets). So, please know I don’t take your concerns and the feelings of this family lightly.”
Leiphart said, “There was no reason for this. Colt and Wesson are our family. There was no reason to shoot them in front of a 5-year-old child. We’re going to get some kind of justice.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
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