If you were watching our twitter feed yesterday, you saw
that an SFPD officer fired two shots at a dog at the entrance to Golden Gate
Park. We spoke to witnesses.
Yesterday, between 4 and 5 p.m., at Haight and Stanyan near
Alvord Lake, where all the street kids hang out, a man was sleeping, and while
he was asleep, his dog got away from him. The dog got “too close” to an
officer, and the officer shot twice, killing the dog. We couldn’t confirm that
the dog was being aggressive, or even barking.
Animal Control, Rangers from Rec & Park, and the SFPD
were all called to the scene. When Animal Control carried the dog into the
truck, the street kids formed a gauntlet for the SFPD and Animal Control
officers to walk through, and they were heard shouting “Congratulations! You
got him!” at the police.
We pieced the story together from two bystanders, Heather
and Alan. Heather is ex-Marines Corps, and she heard the shots fired while
watching kids playing roughly 300 yards away on the other side of the bridge in
the soccer field, so she ran over to see what was happening.
Alan was walking on Stanyan Street and noticed 15 officers,
3 cop cars, and two bicycle cops at the entrance to Golden Gate Park. He spoke
to an officer on the scene who told him the SFPD would issue a press release
about the incident. As of this writing, there has been no press release.