Horrifying new video shows the moment a Missouri cop shot and killed a blind, deaf, Shih Tzu mix after he was called to help the pup find its owner.
Teddy, a five-year-old, 13-pound dog, was tragically gunned down by police officer Myron Woodson, in Sturgeon, about two hours outside of Kansas City, on Sunday.
Woodson had reportedly been called to the scene to help the dog after he got lost, and initially told the pup's owner, Nicholas Hunter, that he believed the pooch was an injured stray that needed to be put down.
On Tuesday, Hunter filed a $1million lawsuit against the city and officer Woodson alleging that his Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated.
Hunter told the Washington Post that he found out his dog was dead through a phone call.
'I was shaken, in tears, trying to figure out if it was really my dog that an officer had shot or if a mistake had been made,' he said.
Horrific bodycam footage showed the moment Sturgeon police officer Myron Woodson shot a killed a five-year-old blind and deaf Shih Tzu mix named Teddy
On Sunday, Woodson had reportedly been called to the scene to help the dog after he got lost. After attempting to catch Teddy, the officer opened fire on the disabled pup
Bodycam footage of the tragic moment starts with Teddy roaming around in an open grass field as Woodson tries to lasso the dogs with a catch pole.
As he tries to catch the dog, Woodson is heard saying: 'Come on, baby. Come on, baby. There you go.'
Each time he attaches the lasso to Teddy's neck the pup backs out of it and runs away.
'I'm going to take you to get help,' Woodson says to the dog.
Minutes later, Teddy is seen playing with a rope attached to a tree as the officer is heard cocking his gun in the background.
Woodson then shoots the disabled dog two times before he walks away and interacts with a neighbor nearby.
'I had to dispatch it,' Woodson says to the neighbor.
The woman tells the officer: 'I've got children here though, like don't you think you should warn before you fire a shot?'
Woodson ignores the neighbor's concerns as he is seen waving her off in his shadow reflected on the grass.
Officer Woodson (pictured) has since been put on paid leave amid backlash from residents in the small town. They are pushing to get the officer fired for his actions
The officer's bodycam then shows the moment Hunter arrives and confronts Woodson for killing his beloved pet.
'That's not how you handle a situation. If a dog is a threat to a person and harms a person or shows immediate threat, that's when you use force,' Hunter tells Woodson as he chokes up.
In the video that Hunter made, he asked Woodson: 'Was my dog a threat to you or anyone else?'
'I see a dog that is walking around blindly - I don't know the dog is blind,' Woodson responded.
As he reportedly said he believed Teddy needed to be put down, Hunter questioned: 'So you're putting him out of his misery?'
'What am I supposed to do?' Woodson replied, noting that the tiny Missouri town doesn't have animal control.
'I don't enjoy shooting dogs,' the officer added.
Hunter said that after meeting the disabled pooch, he 'instantly fell in love with his bubbly and playful personality', adding: 'He was so small you could hold him in one hand'
Hunter's lawyer, Daniel Kolde told ABC17: 'It was unreasonable destruction of Mr. Hunter’s property, in this case, Teddy, and the state cannot do that unless they have a warrant or they have a really, really, really good reason. In this case, there was no good reason.'
Kolde added that there is animal control in the small town and that Woodson is a part of it.
'He's animal control. It says so in the ordinance. He either didn’t know it, didn’t think about it or didn’t care.'
Abbey Harnish, Teddy's other owner, told ABC17 that he was 'the sweetest dog ever.'
'His life ended in a horrible way,' Harnish added.
Hunter said that after meeting the disabled pooch, he 'instantly fell in love with his bubbly and playful personality.'
Amid outrage from Sturgeon residents, the city released a statement where they insisted that the officer 'acted within his authority' after reviewing the body camera footage
On Tuesday, Hunter filed a $1million lawsuit against the city and officer Woodson. The distraught owner alleged that his Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated
'He was so small you could hold him in one hand.'
Amid outrage from Sturgeon residents, the city released two statements, including one where they insisted that the officer 'acted within his authority.'
But locals say they remain disturbed by the shooting on a residential street, as the owner of the yard where Teddy was shot sent a letter to the city demanding Woodson be removed from his duties.
The letter also stressed that the dog was not posing any kind of threat, and that Woodson fired his weapon multiple times with 'neighboring children (in) the side yards playing and my family within close perimeter.'
The resident added that their 17-year-old daughter witnessed the dog being killed by Woodson.
In its initial statement the day after the shooting, the City of Sturgeon claimed that Woodson believed Teddy was rabid and feared he may be bitten, despite the officer reportedly not making those claims at the scene.
'The SPD Officer also noticed the animal did not have a collar or tags. The SPD Officer made numerous attempts to capture the dog using the catch pole,' the statement added.
'Based on the behavior exhibited by the dog, believing the dog to be severely injured or infected with rabies, and as the officer feared being bitten and being infected with rabies, the SPD officer felt that his only option was to put the animal down.'
Hunter is seen confronting Woodson in the officer's bodycam footage as he asks why he shot his beloved pet
The city admitted that it was 'later learned' that Teddy's behavior was because he was blind, and that the 'animal's lack of a collar or tags influenced the SPD Officer's decision to put the animal down due to his belief that the animal was injured, sick and abandoned.'
On Tuesday, dozens of citizens gathered at the Sturgeon Recreation Center and demanded that Woodson be held accountable for Teddy's death.
The board told residents that Woodson would remain on paid leave until further notice.
Jon Miller, a local resident, said: 'I think that it didn’t need to come to Teddy being shot.'
'I think this could have been handled differently if people spoke up like we did today and go to your town hall meetings and pay attention to who you're voting into office and hold them accountable.'
Another resident, Jennifer Mixson, who worked with Woodson at the Moberly Department of Corrections, called the officer a 'bully.'
Abbey Harnish, Teddy's other owner, said that he was 'the sweetest dog ever,' adding: 'His life ended in a horrible way'
'Officer Woodson was a bully. He was inflexible, he was sadistic with the inmates. If you look at his record that will reflect my comment,' Mixson said.
Regina Adams-Miller previously told KOMU: 'What if we had, you know, kids playing outside?'
'It’s scary, I don’t think the community feels very safe with him. And I think I can honestly speak for most of the community, not everyone, but most,' Adams-Miller added.
The lawsuit filed against the small Missouri town and Woodson alleged that the city failed to supervise, properly train and discipline the officer who used unnecessary lethal force on the pup.
'This officer has absolutely no training and had no idea how to use this catch pole. He’s not using it correctly. He’s using it one-handed,' Hunter's lawyer said.
The lawsuit, reviewed by ABC17, also claimed that Woodson has multiple complaints against him from residents though it is unclear what those complaints entail.
Kolde said that he plans on seeking criminal charges against Woodson.
'I'm an animal lawyer, I've done lots of these cases. This is one of the clearest cases of felony animal cruelty I've seen,' he added.
