Chief Mark
Turvey said an investigation into the Feb. 19 incident is under way. The dog
did not die immediately following the shooting and was ultimately euthanized,
police said.
“Anytime we
discharge a weapon, we do an investigation, we review it,” Turvey said.
Mayor John Noak
said he asked Turvey and Village Manager Steve Gulden to review the incident,
along with the police department’s policies. “I asked the village manager and
the police chief to review all of our training and polices regarding our copss’
interaction with animals,” Noak said, adding the investigation will include
looking into whether there are any best practices or technologies that could
aid Romeoville police when it comes to dealing with animals.
Police said the
dog had charged the cops twice and was growling and baring its teeth when the
cops shot it in the front yard of a home across from the school. Turvey said
the cops responded around 3:20 p.m. Feb. 19 after police received at least two
calls reporting a dog running loose. At the time of the incident, the village's
animal warden was not working, according to Turvey.
Raymundo
Delavega, the owner of the dog, said the family pet was able to escape from the
backyard after a fence post broke due to rust. He said the dog had gotten out
before, but had never attacked anyone.
"He's
never been aggressive," Delavega said of the 5-year-old dog named Joseph.
Delavega said the dog would sometimes bark at people who passed their home, but
"he would never go attack anybody. He never bit anybody."
Turvey said
police received calls about a dog acting aggressively on Feb. 19.
“The report we
received was that the dog was snapping at kids and adults in the area,” Turvey
said, adding that one of the calls came from a school employee, who said
students had informed a teacher that a dog had been trying to bite them outside
the school.
The dog,
described by police as a pit bull/boxer mix, was first spotted in a grassy area
near the exit of the Irene King parking lot, Turvey said. When the cops
approached, the dog crossed the street, ending up in a front yard in the 300
block of Eaton Avenue.
Turvey said the
cops requested a catch pole to secure the dog, and approached it to see if it
was wearing tags.
According to
police, the dog growled and charged the cops twice, despite the cops’s attempts
to avoid the animal and take cover behind a pickup truck. According to Turvey,
the cops shot the dog twice in the head.
“The first shot
was when the dog was attacking,” Turvey said. Although the attack ceased after
the first gunshot, he said, the cops made the decision to fire a second time to
put the dog out of its misery.
“It appeared to
be in extreme agony and the cops felt the humane thing to do was to put it out
of its misery,” Turvey said. “ … I know this cops is a dog lover and he hated
to do it.”
According to
police, the second shot did not kill the dog, and it returned to its home just
a few doors down from the school.
Turvey said the
dog had escaped from the backyard due to an unsecured gate. The dog returned to
the yard, entering through the same gate, and police went to the front door and
spoke to the pet’s owner, according to Turvey.
Delavega said
no one was home at his Eaton Avenue house when the incident occurred, but his
18-year-old daughter arrived shortly afterward.
"My
daughter was hysterical after all this," he said. "She didn't know
what to do." Delavega said police told her the injured dog was her
responsibility. She took the pet to an animal clinic in Romeoville, according
to her dad.
Delavega, who
was heading to work when he learned of the shooting, said he drove to the
animal clinic, where he was told it was unlikely Joseph would live long enough
to make the trip to an animal hospital for surgery.
"They said
there was no way he would make it to the hospital," Delavega said. "I
told them to put him down." Delavega said the clinic offered to waive the
charges to euthanize the pet.
‘A last resort’
Turvey said
police work to ensure a safe outcome for everyone, including animals.
“Shooting the
dog is a last resort,” he said. “We try to do whatever we can not to do that.
We deal with hundreds of dogs every year, and it’s rare that we have to do
this. We certainly strive to treat all animals humanely.”
Turvey said the
cops’s first priority was protecting people from an attack.
“The dog
appeared to be vicious,” he said. “We were very concerned the dog would attack
someone," particularly a child.
“If an cops is
in danger of being attacked, he does have the right to fire his weapon,” Turvey
said.
Romeoville
resident Jill Aikin, who is also the former president of the Romeoville Humane Society,
said she was shocked to learn about the shooting.
"I'm
concerned about what happened and how it happened," she said.
"If in
fact the dog was vicious, where was animal control?" Aikin asked. She also
questioned whether shooting the dog was necessary.
"They
could have tased the dog," she said. "They could have used a
tranquilizer ... They could have done something different other than shooting
it in the face." Aikin added she was troubled by the fact that the cops
discharged a weapon so close to a school.
Community
members took to Facebook and the local discussion board Topix to air their
concerns about the shooting, and Delavega said he also wonders if it was
necessary to shoot his pet.
"They told
me they shot him because he was acting aggressive and nibbling at people,"
he said. "I don't know what that means ...
"I know
we've got some kind of blame for the dog being out," Delavega
acknowledged. "If I would have been home, it wouldn't have happened ...
What bothers me is, why did [the cops] have to shoot him?"
Delavega was
also upset that his daughter was left to deal with the aftermath. "You
should have seen my house," he said. "There was blood all over the
place." Turvey said he understands the concerns.“People are concerned that
we had to shoot a dog and fire a gun in the area of a school,” Turvey said.
“There’s a lot of concerns in the area and I understand.”
Turvey said the
cops had his back to the campus when he discharged his weapon, and did not fire
in the direction of the school. “You’ve got to be aware of your surroundings,”
he said. “If he missed the dog, the bullet would have gone into the ground … It
appears the cops did use the proper precautions when he did this.”
Turvey said
police reports do not indicate that any children witnessed the shooting.
However, police are looking to talk to anyone who may have seen the incident.
Aikin also urged anyone who saw what happened to talk to police. "The
witnesses need to come forward," she said.