LAPD releases video of officer shooting dog after Knicks win

Los Angeles police Friday released bodycam footage of an officer killing a woman’s pet dog in a case that has sparked outrage and questions.

Jameson, a 2-year-old Saint Bernard doodle, was fatally shot by police on Saturday after officers responded to a report of a woman screaming in her apartment in the 7500 block of Jordan Avenue at 8:55 p.m.

Footage of the shooting aftermath went viral and sparked outrage, showing the woman, Marie Marseille, sobbing over Jameson, who is wearing a Knicks shirt.

The footage released by the LAPD on Friday shows the moments leading up to the heart-wrenching scene.

In the footage, which lasts a few minutes and comes from two body cameras, an officer is seen approaching the woman’s apartment door and declaring LAPD. A second officer passage stands slightly down the apartment complexway.

Marseille answers the door and the officers see the large barking dog.

As the officers ask Marseille to put the dog away, bodycam video shows the second officer unholstering his gun and backing away from the barking dog. He then puts his gun away after Marseille closes the door.

“Jeez, that’s a big ass dog,” the first officer is heard exclaiming..

“I ain’t getting bit by that, bro,” the second officer says.

Marseille returns to the door and the officer again asks if she put away the dog. She replies, “he’s not aggressive.”

An officer said, “he’s ah, huge, you know what I mean?”

At that point, Jameson comes past Marseille out the door away from the first officer, who tells her to “put him in.” A barking Jameson, however, moves down the passage toward the second officer, who draws his handgun in his right hand and shoots four times.

The large pup drops to the ground as Marseille screams: “No!”

The incident has sparked outrage and questions across the city, prompting Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell to promise a full investigation. The LAPD and Mayor Karen Bass face mounting political pressure to release the responding officers’ body camera footage of the shooting.

The release came after LAPD brass and top city leaders reviewed the footage and McDonnell conducted what is known as a 72-hour review of the officers’ action, the first step in a lengthy internal investigation process into shots being fired by an LAPD officer.

Amid mounting outcry, Bass offered a public tribute to the dog. “Every life lost to violence is a tragedy, and we know that the devastating loss of Jameson will be felt by his family forever.”

Bass posted on social media Friday night that she had viewed the video, calling it “disturbing and tragic.” She said she has called for a city review of how it prepares officers to respond in such situations, saying written policies and procedures were “not enough.”

In an interview with NBC4the neighbor who called police expressed remorse for making the call. She told the station after she heard screaming from Marseille’s apartment, she called out to her but did not get a response and so she called police, concerned for her neighbor’s welfare.

“I feel responsible for what happened,” the neighbor said, adding that the knocks on Marseille’s door sounded “hostile.”

“That’s not how I thought a wellness check would go,” she said.

In the viral video after the shooting, neighbors can be heard angrily admonishing officers for killing the dog.

The incident has raised new questions about use-of-force protocols when it comes to dogs and whether reforms are needed.

In a statement after the shooting, McDonnell acknowledged Marseille’s loss.

“The loss of a pet is deeply personal. For many, a dog is not simply an animal; it is a companion, a source of comfort, and a member of the family,” the statement said. “LAPD officers face unknown dangers on a daily basis, but I expect them to exercise sound judgment, restraint, and respect for life whenever possible. That expectation is reflected in our training, policies, and specific guidance on encounters with dogs. All those factors will be carefully reviewed as part of this investigation.”

A GoFundMe has raised more than $200,000 for Marseille and her son.

The family has now hired lawyers, who released a statement Friday condemning the police response shown in the video as “completely unnecessary and profoundly dangerous.”

Marseille told NBC4 that her family was celebrating the Knicks’ NBA Championship win when officials showed up.

“Next thing I know, he was on the ground,” Marseille said. “I see the officer shoot him twice. I did see that. I was right there when it happened.”

In a phone interview with The Times, her sister, Vanessa Marseille, said the family was shocked and devastated over the incident.

“We just don’t know why it happened,” she said. “What’s more scary is that those shots could have hit her or anyone. It was reckless.

“It’s just tragic,” she said.

Marseille said her sister was born and raised in New York and left for California in 2014 for work. Two years ago, she said, her sister bought Jameson, the oldest of seven puppies.

She said the pet was a constant presence when she talked with her nephew.

“Every time on FaceTime with Jeremiah, he’s always walking the dog,” she said. “When he takes my sister to work, Jameson is in the car, wagging his tongue.”

California, unlike Texas and Colorado, does not mandate canine encounter training for police officers. The LAPD issues a detailed guideline in the form of a bulletin to police officers. An attempt to mandate such training failed to get approved by state legislators in 2017.

LAPD Use of Force Directive No. 11 outlines the protocol for dog encounters.

According to the department’s directive Written in 2023, officers should consider voice commands and several alternatives before using lethal force. The directive advises officers arriving at a scene to assess whether a dog may be present and reminds them their main concern upon arrival is “safety.”

The directive advises officers to remember all dogs can bite and then provides them with a list of evolving options to deal with a “hostile” dog.

Officers can use voice commands, and if those don’t work options include pepper spray, a baton, a TASER or fire extinguisher, although some are more difficult to use on a fast-moving animal, the directive says.

“A continuous reverse spin movement can deter an approaching animal,” the directive states. If necessary, a dog should be struck in the nose or throat, it adds.

Lethal force is allowed “when it’s reasonable to protect the officer or other person/s from an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.”

Officers are cautioned: “The size and speed of an animal can increase the potential of a missed shot and possibility of an officer or bystander being critically injured by a bullet.”

“Officers may not use lethal force against a dog to protect property including other animals,” the directive says.

Law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County have a track record of deadly incidents with dogs.

In 2013, Hawthorne police shot a dog four times after he jumped out of a vehicle as they detained its owner. In a video viewed more than 7 million times, the owner pleaded for officers not to shoot the dog.

In 2005, a Times investigation examining two decades of LAPD data found that one in four LAPD shootings targeted dogs. Police shot more than 465 dogs, killing at least 200 and wounding at least 140, incident reports revealed. However, in the latest year available, 2024, with tighter restrictions than in the past, one animal was shot by an officer.

According to LAPD department statistics, its officers have had 32 shootings with dogs since 2018, with the numbers reflecting a downward trend from seven in 2018 to one last year.