Tonight, in the course of a Bellingham Police Department investigation into a theft, an officer shot and killed a dog that charged him. Officers were at an apartment complex in the 1300 block of Orleans Street following up on a theft from nearby 7-11. Officers had been to the apartment on several occasions in the past two days, but had been unable to make contact with anyone at the apartment.
Just after 6:00 p.m. Thursday October 12, an officer made contact with a male at the front door of the apartment. Shortly after the officer made contact at the front door a female quickly exited through the rear door of the apartment toward the parking lot. The female's dog jumped out an open window of the apartment to follow her. A second officer was watching the rear of the apartment. The dog noticed the officer and immediately began barking, growling and aggressively charging at the officer. The officer responded to the threat of an attack by firing a single round which stopped the threat, unfortunately killing the dog. Any loss of life is tragic. We regret it was a necessary response to a threatening situation. At Bellingham Police we are dog lovers, we work with several canine officers, and we know that pain of loss.
