Deputy gunned down Florida family’s ‘terrified’ 1-year-old dog as it ran away, suit says
A police officer insisted on seeing a woman’s dogs in her backyard moments before fatally shooting her 1-year-old pup, a Great Dane mix named Lucy, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office deputy first fired one shot that missed, a complaint filed Dec. 27 says.
Then he gunned Kimberly Barus’ dog down as it ran away, “terrified,” outside Barus’ Jacksonville home on April 11, 2022, according to the complaint.
The officer maintained the dog “nipped” his hand and leg before opening fire, according to the complaint, which says he had no reason to see Barus’ dogs while visiting her home to investigate a complaint.
His investigation should have ended before he told Barus to open her backyard gate so he could look at the dogs, the lawsuit says.
Now, Barus is suing the deputy and the city of Jacksonville for civil rights violations, saying her family pet wasn’t a threat when she was killed in front of her and her grandchildren, according to the complaint.
“The deputy that is named in the suit specifically told Ms. Barus to open the gate to the yard where Lucy was contained but was unprepared to handle the foreseeable situation in which Lucy came out of the gate and behaved territorially,” attorney Marcy LaHart, who represents Barus, told McClatchy News. “And continuing to shoot Lucy as the terrified dog ran away from him was inexcusable.”
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office confirmed to McClatchy News that the deputy is still employed in his position as of Dec. 30 and declined to comment on the lawsuit. The city also declined to comment.
The shooting was first reported by News4Jax.
What led up to the shooting?
A few hours before the officer visited Barus’ home, Barus awoke to her dogs barking inside her fenced backyard and noticed the gate was open at about 6:30 a.m., the complaint says.
After shutting the gate, she found a teenager standing on top of her car, according to the complaint.
The teen said Barus’ dogs chased him and wouldn’t leave Barus’ property until she went inside to get her husband, the complaint says. Then the teen ran down the street, the complaint says.
Afterward, his mother reported to police that Barus’ dogs chased her son and wrongly accused Barus’ husband of pulling a gun on him, according to the complaint, which says Barus and her husband don’t have a gun.
This led to the officer visiting Barus’ home to investigate at around 11 a.m., according to the complaint.
“(The officer) was told unequivocally that there was not a gun at the property, at which point he should have concluded his investigation,” the complaint says.
The officer then wanted to see Barus’ dogs in the backyard, according to the complaint, and had Barus open the backyard gate where they were secured.
As she opened the gate, Barus’ dog Lucy excitedly greeted the deputy, approached him with her tail wagging and jumped on him, the complaint says.
That’s when the officer contends the dog “nipped” him, according to the complaint.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s Response to Resistance Board reviewed the shooting that followed and found the deputy’s actions were justified, News4Jax reported in May 2022.
Body camera footage captures the shooting
In police body camera footage obtained by News4Jax, Barus is seen standing by the opened gate of her fenced backyard as Lucy walks out and toward the officer, seconds before the shooting.
The officer is heard saying “hey bud” as the dog walks over to him. Then barking is heard.
As the officer says “hey” again, the footage shows Barus motioning toward Lucy.
Then the officer says “get back” and multiple shots ring out.
After shooting at the dog once, the complaint says the officer fired five more shots and killed her.
The footage shows the officer aiming and firing his weapon at the dog as the dog runs away, toward the street.
The lawsuit says that this went against Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office policies and procedures that require deputies to “use nonlethal methods of handling animals, including retreating, asking for the owner’s assistance, barricading the animal, or using less lethal weapons.”
Instead of using his taser or baton, the officer immediately used his gun to deter Lucy, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit says that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office hasn’t properly trained officers to respond to canine behavior and body language, and that deputies have killed “multiple family dogs.”
With her lawsuit, Barus seeks an unspecified amount in damages and a judgment against Jacksonville and the deputy.
“The unnecessary and tragic fatal shooting of Lucy is unfortunately not an isolated event in the city of Jacksonville,” LaHart said. “I am hopeful that this suit will not only bring compensation to Lucy’s owner, but also that it will spur a fundamental change in the way the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office handles encounters with family dogs.
“An ideal outcome would be that sheriff deputies will be required to learn when to anticipate the presence of a family pet, how to evaluate whether a dog truly poses a safety threat and if so how to deploy non-lethal measures to address the situation,” LaHart added.
This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 8:04 AM with the headline "Deputy gunned down Florida family’s ‘terrified’ 1-year-old dog as it ran away, suit says."
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