More Body Cam Questions Haunt Minneapolis Police After Dogs Shot

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Questions surrounding the use of body cameras have been raised for the second time in a Minneapolis police shooting, this one involving two pit bulls said to be service dogs for two special needs children. The officer was wearing a body camera, but the audio was muted on the section of video that showed him shooting and seriously injuring the two dogs, and the footage ultimately raised more questions than it answered.

Were the dogs growling, as Officer Michael Mays maintained in his official report of the July 8 incident in a fenced-in backyard on Queen Avenue North? Or were they curiously greeting a stranger, their tails wagging? The question could go unanswered because of the missing audio, the dog’s owner and her attorney said at a news conference last week to release the controversial video.

The Minneapolis Police Department has been under siege from the public, politicians and others for the past week after the July 15 fatal shooting of 911 caller Justine Damond. The 40-year-old Australian life coach was about a month away from her wedding when she was shot through a police cruiser window by one of two officers responding to her emergency call about an attempted rape in her neighborhood. Neither of the two officers responding to the call had turned on his boy camera, police have said.

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The two dogs that were shot, Ciroc and Rocko, help her children lead normal lives, Jennifer LeMay said at the news conference called by her attorney, Michael Padden. The body cam video clearly shows Ciroc wagging his tail as he approaches Mays, who is shown shooting him in the face. The other dog dashed toward Mays, and was also hit by gunfire.

LeMay told said if the dogs had been growling, the muted video would have shown Ciroc, the first dog shot, opening his mouth to bark and baring his teeth as he growled, CBS Minnesota affiliate WCCO-TV reported. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minneapolis Patch, or click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Audio is switched on at the point Mays climbs over a fence in the backyard, and the video follows his footsteps to the front door at the home, where he apologized to a sobbing teenager for shooting the dogs.

“I don’t like shooting dogs,” Mays can be heard saying. “I love dogs.”

The police union defended Mays, saying he was justified in shooting the dogs because they behaved aggressively toward him. The police department hasn't responded to questions about the missing audio, but has said the investigation is continuing.

Former Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau, who resigned over the Damond shooting this weekend, called for an Internal Affairs investigation in response to backyard surveillance camera video LeMay posted on her Facebook page the day after her dogs were shot. The video was widely shared, casting another unwelcome spotlight on the Minneapolis Police Department. It has since been removed.

The dogs will recover, but face thousands of dollars in medical expenses, LeMay has said. LeMay told WCCO that Rocko is about 75 percent physically recovered, but “emotionally and mentally, he’s not there.”

More than double the initial goal of $15,000 has been raised for the dogs’ medical care on a GoFundMe page. All donations will be transferred to a trust fund for the dogs that will be overseen by the Padden law firm.

Photo via GoFundMe