Newly released body camera footage revealed that an Iowa police officer fatally shot a family dog seconds after the pet approached him in a front yard.
The under-fire Davenport Police Department released body camera video from Officer Ethan Bock following an Aug. 21 shooting in which he killed the dog, named Myst, in front of two young children.
In the footage, the black retriever mix is seen barking at Bock and running toward him with his fangs bared as soon as the officer arrived, with the officer saying “hey, hey, hey” to calm the dog down.
Within four seconds, Bock pulled out his gun and shot the pet multiple times, sparking chaotic scenes as the family’s two young children screamed in terror.
As the children’s mother, Brandy Hesseltine, ran outside and began crying, Bock is heard on body camera admitting into his police radio: “There were shots fired… yeah, I just shot a dog.”
Newly released body camera footage reveals that a Davenport, Iowa, police officer fatally shot a family dog seconds after the pet approached him in the front yard.
Davenport Police Officer Ethan Bock (pictured) shot the dog four seconds after the beloved pet approached him, leaving his owners screaming in terror.
The fatal shooting of the dog made headlines earlier this week after surveillance footage from the family’s home showed the moment the beloved dog was shot and killed.
The video sparked outrage online, with viewers pointing out how quickly Bock fired his gun with children in the vicinity.
It was also revealed that a few weeks earlier, the same officer hit and killed another man’s dog that was loose in his patrol car. In body camera footage taken after the crash, Bock told the owner, “This is why you have to keep your dog on a leash, bro.”
Following an internal review of the Aug. 21 shooting, Davenport police said Bock’s actions were lawful, explaining that Bock was responding to reports of a pack of dogs attempting to jump a home’s fence.
The force said Bock told the children to leash their dog because of the reports, and they were taking the pet inside when he got out of his vehicle, at which point Myst ran toward the officer.
Seven-year-old Maverick, who witnessed Myst’s fatal shooting, is said to have been left heartbroken and traumatized by the shocking incident.
In the news release justifying the shooting, the force included Bock’s statement about how the incident unfolded from his perspective.
“The dog charged at me at full speed, barking aggressively. I heard the adult female say, ‘Oh no,'” she wrote.
I started to back away, holding out my left hand in the hope that the dog would catch my scent and move away from me. The tone of the dog’s bark changed to a threatening bark.
‘The dog continued to bark and showed me its teeth. I noticed that the dog was salivating from its mouth. It lunged at me several times, snapping its teeth in an attempt to bite me.
“I dodged the dog several times as it lunged at me, snapping its teeth. This made me fear that I would be seriously injured. I pulled out my service pistol and continued to back away.
“The dog lunged at me as I was backing away, trying to bite me. I fired my gun twice, hitting the dog.”
Don Hesseltine, the father of seven-year-old Maverick, who witnessed his pet being shot, said: TMZ that her son was traumatized by her request that Bock face criminal charges.
He said Maverick was heartbroken and often calls out to his dead dog at home, and said his son has trouble sleeping while recounting the shooting.
Bock, seen at his swearing-in, was revealed to be a young officer who joined the force last year but already has several fatal encounters with dogs on his record.
A few weeks earlier, the same officer struck and killed another man’s dog that was running loose in his patrol car, in an incident that was not caught on camera. Instead, Bock’s body camera began filming seconds after the crash occurred.
“I needed that dog,” said the dog’s owner, Lacindra Spears, revealing that the police department offered $1,700 in compensation for the killing on July 30.
Adding insult to injury, there was another incident involving Bock that occurred on the night of July 13, when Lacindra Spears’ dog, Muneca, was hit and killed by the officer’s patrol car in the alley behind her home.
“I needed that dog,” Spears told Our Quad Cities News, revealing that the police department offered $1,700 in compensation for the July 30 killing.
The offer came shortly after she first spoke to the newspaper earlier that day, following a week in which the department reportedly gave her and her family different stories about what happened.
Spears was allegedly told her witnesses were “not credible” when her brother, C’edward Spears, was taking out the trash around 10 p.m. in the alley behind the buildings when he encountered Bock.
At the same time, another brother was taking Muneca out to relieve himself, which created a perfect storm that culminated in Muneca’s death.
“He was coming at full speed, so I stood in front of the police car and said ‘pull over’ so the dog could get out and stop,” C’edward Spears told the local newspaper.
‘The dog goes out into the field and a few seconds pass and another police car appears at full speed as well and by then the dog has already done its business and is on its way back.
“I go out again and say to him: ‘Stop, the dog.’ He stops, recognizes me, speeds up and drives away.”
On Bock’s body camera footage from the scene, he told the owner, “This is why you have to keep your dog on a leash, bro.”
Meanwhile, the Hesseltines have already laid Myst to rest with a burial, and Don shared a photoshopped photo of the two children who witnessed the dog’s death, his son Maverick and nephew Ezra, paying their respects.
Meanwhile, the Hesseltines have already laid Myst to rest with a burial, and Don shared a photo of the two children who witnessed the dog’s death, his son Maverick and nephew Ezra, paying their respects.
Yesterday I took Maverick and Ezra to see Myst. We put up a cross and planted flowers. I told Maverick that Myst would always be by his side. He said, “I know, Dad. I can still feel it.”
She added in a separate social media post, in which she tagged the Davenport Police Department: ‘Thank you to the cowardly killer cop who shot and killed the family dog in front of the children.
“I hope my son’s memory of this moment forever haunts your punk ass. Rest in peace, Myst. You were our best friend.”