Las Cruces Police and the Las Cruces Officer-Involved Incident Task Force are continuing to investigate the Wednesday evening fatal shooting of a dog.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, on the 3200 block of Eagle Ridge Drive, a plain-clothed Las Cruces Police detective was flagged down by three people who were being chased by an aggressive canine.
Preliminary information from the investigation shows that the detective successfully distracted the dog’s attention from the victims and radioed for the assistance of an Animal Control officer.
Before the Animal Control officer arrived, the canine turned its aggression toward the detective. As the dog ran toward the detective, the 16-year LCPD veteran fired his duty weapon fatally injuring the mixed-breed dog.
The adult male and two teenage girls who were being harassed by the dog were not injured.
As per departmental policy related to the duty-related discharge of a firearm, the multi-agency task force will investigate the shooting. The task force includes investigators from New Mexico State Police, the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State University Police and Las Cruces Police. The task force reports its findings to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office.