The incident happened on August 7 when Police Chief Robert Hassell and Reidsville officers visited the Police Impound Lot to take inventory and also observed the work of Quality Fencing of Reidsville, a company owned by Greensboro firefighter Kevin Paschal.
Paschal had his dog dog Auger out at the site with them. When officers approached a truck on the lot, they say they heard a dog barking behind it and they backed up. That's when Auger ran out.
As the video shows, Auger darted out from behind the car and briefly appeared to put his face by the officer's boot. Within seconds of Auger doing this, Officer Glen Wade pulled out his pistol and fired 5 rounds at the collie mix. Two of those rounds struck Auger who died from the wounds on the scene.
After watching the video, the family believes that the officer was not justified in shooting their dog and they have since called for justice for Auger. They also say that witnesses saw the officer shoot at Auger before he ran out from behind the truck.
However, the department has ruled the shooting justified as the officer claimed he was in fear of his life and had no other choice to shoot the dog.
According to the report, the officers heard "aggressive barking coming from the direction underneath the truck."
"They both began to back away from the truck and within seconds, the canine sprinted full speed in an aggressive manner towards Officer Wade," the report reads.
"Since the incident occurred in less than seven (7) seconds from Officer Wade knowing the dog was present until the threat was neutralized, other options such as OC pepper spray or Taser were not reasonable options," the report reads.
A third-party investigation by US Investigative Security Services concluded that Wade's use of deadly force was "justified" and "in compliance with applicable departmental policy" as a form of self-defense.
While the department ruled it justified, the Paschal family says they are lying about what really happened and said that witnesses and the video back up their story. Below is the statement from the Paschal family's attorney, Darren A. McDonough, which details the "troubling" problem with the official version of events.
We are deeply troubled by the statements and information released today regarding the unnecessary shooting death of the Paschal family's dog, Auger. Statements made by Chief Hassell and the findings of the Police Department's handpicked investigator ignore undisputed facts and make unfounded conclusions. The report does not accurately reflect the facts of the shooting. First, no witnesses reported that Auger was acting in an aggressive manner at any time prior to the shooting. Chief Hassel himself admitted at the press conference that he did not feel threatened by the dog at any time. Second, Officer Wade's first shot at Auger occurred when the dog was beside the parked vehicle, this was corroborated by witnesses at the scene and those witnesses provided the City's investigator with this information. Third, after Office Wade fired at Auger, the dog attempted to flee towards the open gate, where Officer Wade was standing. At no time did Auger charge Officer Wade. As shown on the video, Officer Wade simply stepped to the side as Auger was trying to run away. Fourth, Officer Wade continued to shoot at Auger as the dog attempted to flee, striking the dog twice-in the leg and neck. At no time did Auger attempt to charge at Officer Wade a "second time."Below is the video. Knowing the family's side of the story and the department's side of the story, do you think that Auger had to lose his life?
For once I'd like to be on a jury where the owner shot the guy who shot the dog over something like this.