BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Shooting board

issues findings

A police review board has concluded that a Feb. 3 shooting of a guard dog was in compliance with departmental policy, police said.

Det. Wallace Schilling was serving a search warrant in connection with a string of residential and vehicle burglaries, when a mixed-breed pit bull broke free of its owner and charged him and another officer, Sgt. Jay Jette said.

Schilling fired one round into the dog’s upper body and the dog died shortly after, despite a veterinarian’s attempt to save the animal, police said.

“Det. Schilling was left with no alternative but to defend himself with a firearm,” Jette said.

The Police Department convenes a shooting review board meeting whenever an officer discharges a firearm outside of training, Jette said. The board collects information about the event, weighing the feasibility of other options the officer may have had.