‘Shot my black Lab for no reason’: Police shoot, kill ‘wrong’ dog, family says

By DaVonté McKenith & Maria DeBone

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    HIGH POINT, North Carolina (WXII) — A High Point family, who owned a black Labrador Retriever, says High Point police shot and killed the wrong dog on Sunday.

High Point police say around 9:50 a.m., an officer was dispatched to a home on the 1500 block of Homewood Avenue, near North University Parkway and Eastchester Drive.

Police say a woman called about a German Shepherd in her yard that wouldn’t leave, and she was afraid to let her children and dogs out.

“The officer wasn’t able to get close to the German Shepherd without it running away. The officer was told the dog belonged to someone down the street and went to the home to try to talk to the owner,” an HPPD spokesperson said.

According to High Point police, the officer went to that home to try and locate the owner of the German Shepherd because a neighbor had said that’s where the dog lived. The officer got out of a marked patrol vehicle that was parked in the street and walked toward the end of the driveway.

“A black dog came out from behind the home, barking aggressively, and charged at the officer,” a news release said Monday. “The officer backed up as the dog continued to charge and shot the dog four times. The dog was about 5-7 feet away from the officer when it was shot.”

Adam Barnes, the owner of the black Lab named Hank, said police “shot my black Lab for no reason. First off, I don’t have a German Shepherd”.

“He was the best dog,” said Barnes. “I know my dog, and I know that he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I know he wouldn’t.”

Barnes said he wants HPPD to apologize publicly.

“I’m not out here to, you know, call for anybody’s job or to get anybody fired, but I do want you guys to acknowledge what happened,” said Barnes. “I want somebody to come out and say that they’re sorry.”

The spokesperson for HPPD said there will be an internal investigation, and the officer involved is not on administrative leave.

According to HPPD, at the time shots were fired, “no individuals were standing in the yard or driveway of the home.”

Adam’s parents said they were at the home at the time police shot and killed the dog and we’re in the driveway. They say Hank was not charging at the officer and was just doing “what any dog would have done” with someone in their yard.

“He shot the wrong dog,” said Lee Barnes, Adam’s father. “That dog was happy one second and dead the next.”

Adam’s mother, Marykay, echoed Lee’s statement.

“He was in his own yard, so he had no reason to shoot him,” Marykay said.

Lee recalled hearing shots and said it happened so fast.

“Pow pow, pow pow! Just like that,” said Lee. “Before I could get down here, the dog was dead. It died that quick. I told the guy, ‘What are you doing? You just killed my son’s pet.’ I said, ‘He’s going to be devastated.'”

Adam said he dropped to his knees when he knew there was nothing that could be done to save the dog.

“I dropped to my knees, and I just didn’t know what to do. I was broken at that point. I couldn’t bring him back,” said Adam. ” I lost a dog last year, so I knew they were going to come pick him up, and he was going to get cremated and be gone forever. I wanted to love on him, even though he wasn’t really there. I just hugged him, loved him, and said goodbye because I never got to.”

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