Horrifying video shows cruel Missouri cop shooting blind, deaf, Shih Tzu mix after being called to help find its owner

A gruesome new video shows the moment a Missouri police officer shot and killed a blind, deaf Shih Tzu mix after being called to help the puppy find its owner.

Teddy, a five-year-old, 13-pound dog, was tragically shot by police officer Myron Woodson on Sunday in Sturgeon, about two hours outside of Kansas City.

Woodson was reportedly called to the scene to help the dog after it became lost, and initially told the pup’s owner, Nicholas Hunter, that he believed the dog was an injured stray that needed to be put down.

On Tuesday, Hunter filed a $1 million lawsuit against the city and Officer Woodson, claiming his Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated.

Hunter told the WashingtonPost that he found out through a phone call that his dog was dead.

“I was shocked and in tears trying to figure out if it was really my dog ​​that had been shot by an officer or if a mistake had been made,” he said.

Bodycam footage of the tragic moment begins with Teddy wandering around an open grassy area as Woodson tries to lasso the dogs with a catch pole.

As he tries to catch the dog, Woodson can be heard saying, “Come on, baby.” Come on, baby. There you go.’

Each time he attaches the lasso to Teddy’s neck, the puppy backs away and runs away.

“I’m going to take you to get help,” Woodson tells the dog.

Minutes later, Teddy is seen playing with a rope tied to a tree, while the officer is heard cocking his gun in the background.

Woodson then shoots the disabled dog twice before walking away and interacting with a nearby neighbor.

“I had to send it,” Woodson tells the neighbor.

The woman says to the officer, “I do have children here, don’t you think you should warn before you fire a shot?”

Woodson ignores the neighbor’s concerns as he waves her goodbye in his shadow reflected in the grass.

The officer’s bodycam then shows the moment Hunter arrives and confronts Woodson for killing his beloved pet.

‘That’s not how you handle a situation. If a dog poses a threat to a person and harms a person or shows a direct threat, then you use force,” Hunter tells Woodson as he chokes up.

In the video Hunter made, he asked Woodson, “Was my dog ​​a threat to you or anyone else?”

“I see a dog walking around blind – I don’t know if the dog is blind,” Woodson replied.

While reportedly saying he thought Teddy should be put to sleep, Hunter wondered, “So you’re putting him out of his misery?”

‘What should I do?’ Woodson responded, noting that the small Missouri town has no animal control.

“I don’t like shooting dogs,” the officer added.

Hunter’s attorney, Daniel Kolde, said ABC17: “It was an unreasonable destruction of Mr. Hunter’s property, in this case, Teddy, and the state can’t do that unless they have a warrant or a very, very, very good reason. In this case there was no good reason.”

Kolde added that there is animal control in the small town and Woodson is part of it.

‘He’s from animal protection. That’s what the regulation says. He didn’t know, didn’t think about it, or didn’t care.’

Abbey Harnish, Teddy’s other owner, told ABC17 that he was “the sweetest dog ever.”

“His life ended in a terrible way,” Harnish added.

Hunter said that after meeting the disabled pooch, he “instantly fell in love with his bubbly and playful personality.”

“It was so small you could hold it in one hand.”

Amid the outcry from Sturgeon residents, the city released two statements, including one in which they insisted the officer was “acting within his authority.”

But locals say they are still disturbed by the shooting on a residential street, as the owner of the yard where Teddy was shot sent a letter to the city demanding Woodson be removed from office.

The letter also emphasized that the dog did not pose any threat, and that Woodson fired his weapon multiple times while “neighbor children were playing (in) the side yards and my family was within close distance.”

The resident added that their 17-year-old daughter witnessed the dog being killed by Woodson.

In its initial statement the day after the shooting, the city of Sturgeon claimed that Woodson believed Teddy was rabid and feared he would be bitten, despite the officer reportedly not making these claims at the scene.

“The SPD officer also noted that the animal did not have a collar or tags. The SPD officer made numerous attempts to capture the dog using the catch pole,” the statement said.

“Based on the behavior the dog exhibited, believing that the dog was seriously injured or infected with rabies, and because the officer feared being bitten and becoming infected with rabies, the SPD officer felt that his only option was to put the animal to sleep. ‘

The city admitted that “it was later learned” that Teddy’s behavior stemmed from the fact that he was blind, and that “the animal’s lack of a collar or tags influenced the SPD officer’s decision to euthanize the animal because he thought the animal was injured. sick and forsaken.’

On Tuesday, dozens of citizens gathered at the Sturgeon Recreation Center and demanded that Woodson be held accountable for Teddy’s death.

The board told residents that Woodson would remain on paid leave until further notice.

Jon Miller, a local resident, said, “I don’t think it was necessary for Teddy to be shot.”

“I think this could have been handled differently if people spoke out like we did today and went to your town hall meetings and paid attention to who you vote into office and hold them accountable.”

Another resident, Jennifer Mixson, who worked with Woodson at the Moberly Department of Corrections, called the officer a “bully.”

“Officer Woodson was a bully. He was inflexible and sadistic towards the prisoners. If you look at his record, it will reflect my commentary,” Mixson said.

Regina Adams-Miller told it earlier KOMU: ‘What if we had children who played outside?’

“It’s scary, I don’t think the community feels very safe with him. And I think I can speak honestly for most of the community, not for all, but for most,” Adams-Miller added.

The lawsuit was filed against the small Missouri town and Woodson alleged that the town failed to supervise, properly train and discipline the officer who used unnecessary lethal force on the puppy.

“This officer had absolutely no training and had no idea how to use this safety pole. He’s not using it correctly. He uses it with one hand,” Hunter’s attorney said.

The lawsuit, reviewed by ABC17, also alleged that Woodson had multiple complaints against him from residents, although it is unclear what those complaints entailed.

Kolde said he plans to file criminal charges against Woodson.

“I’m an animal advocate and I’ve done a lot of these cases. This is one of the clearest cases of animal abuse I have seen,” he added.