Officer Shoots Dog At 5-Year-Old’s Birthday Party

An Oklahoma police officer shot and killed a 5-year-old boy’s dog during his birthday party. 

Eli Malone and several other children were inside eating birthday cake when they heard a loud bang, the Daily Mail reported.  Eli, the birthday boy, looked out the window and saw his family’s dog, Opie, bleeding on the ground.

The boy’s mother, Vickie Malone, said her son came to her in tears.

”There’s something wrong with Opie,” he told her. 

The adults in the home ran outside and found the 3-year-old American bulldog-pit bull mix “kicking and gasping for air.”

The officer, identified as Wynnewood Police Officer Josh Franklin, used a high-powered rifle to shoot Opie as the children looked on. 

Malone’s other son and Opie’s owner, Rio Youngblood, questioned the officer’s actions after the shooting.

“He walks slowly out to his car gets an AR-15 and points it at the dog and pulls the trigger,” Youngblood said.  “He fires another round and it ended my dog’s life. He lowered his head and drove off.”

“The kids were all watching through the window,” Malone added. 

The officer initially said that the dog tried to attack him through the fence, which prompted him to shoot it. Wynnewood Police Chief Ken Moore claimed Opie was vicious and that he charged the officer. The shooting, he said, was justified. 

A video recording showed Opie lying on the ground near the fence, in his own blood. 

“The dog cannot jump the fence,” Malone said. “The gates to our yard are tied with wire and shoe string. The dog could maybe have gotten his head through the fence but he wouldn’t have been able to open it.”

At the time of the shooting, Franklin was serving a warrant for Shon McNiel from a 10-year-old case. Paperwork listed the Malones’ house as the suspect’s last known address,  KOKH reported. 

The family said the officer did not show them a warrant. 

“He said that he was looking for Shon McNiel,” Malone said. “I said, ‘There’s no one here named Shon McNiel. Who the hell is Shon McNiel?'”

Court records indicated that McNiel’s last known address was not the Malones’ house, and instead was a home on a nearby street, KOKH reported. 

The Malone family said they were still waiting on an explanation, as well as an apology from the police department.

The Wynnewood mayor said the incident would be discussed at the next city council meeting, and that Franklin had previous questionable actions reported against him.

Sources: Daily Mail, KOKH / Photo credit: Malone Family via Daily Mail