Detroit cops go out of their way to kill three dogs during search, leaving bloody scene as they shoot one through bathroom door: suit (WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO)
By David Boroff
Debo was one of three of Nikita Smith's dogs that were killed. (Courtesy Nikita Smith)
In a gruesome display of cruelty, Detroit police officers went out of their way to kill three dogs during a house search and one even told the shaken owner, "I should have killed you, too," a new lawsuit claims.
Cops repeatedly shot one of the dogs through a bathroom door, leaving a disturbing and bloody scene that was left for owner Nikita Smith to find.
"They went around and killed them. Like a death squad," Smith's lawyer Chris Olson told the Daily News on Thursday.
When the officers showed up at the Detroit home where Smith and Kevin Thomas live in January to execute a search warrant, they were told by Smith there were three dogs present. Smith then put two of the dogs in the basement, and locked the third one in the bathroom, according to the lawsuit. Thomas was not home at the time.
The bathroom was filled with blood after a dog named Smoke was fatally shot through the door. (Courtesy Nikita Smith)
After officers entered the home, one of the dogs was able to get out of the basement, and harmlessly sat next to Smith. As Smith reached for the dog, officers shot the animal "multiple times," the lawsuit charges. Smith watched from less than 10 feet away as the dog, named Debo, died on the floor.
Three officers then went to the basement and fatally shot a dog named Mama, who was pregnant. Mama was quiet and not attacking the cops at the time, according to the lawsuit.
Then after an officer opened the bathroom door, he asked, "should we do that one too?"
Smoke was killed during a house search by Detroit police. (Nikita Smith)
"Yes," came a response from another officer. Two cops, identified in the lawsuit as Officer Gaines and Officer Paul, then fired several times through the closed door, killing the dog, named Smoke.
"Did you see that? I got that one good!" Officer Gaines said as he laughed, according to the lawsuit.
An officer then said to Smith, "I should have killed you too." Later another officer told her, "you could have been killed."
The cops' actions violated the homeowners' civil rights, according to the lawsuit.
Olson said it was appalling how these dogs could be killed while being confined and not posing a threat, and one was even locked in a bathroom. He saw what the bathroom looked like after the shooting, and Smith and Thomas took a picture of the bloody room.
"I couldn't believe my eyes," Olson said.
Cops shot and killed three dogs even though they posed no threat. (Courtesy Nikita Smith)
The officers had shown up at the home believing it was a drug house, Olson said. Nikita Smith would be charged with possession of marijuana, but that was dismissed earlier this month when the "death squad" officers did not show up to court, Olson said.
Olson said Smith had done everything correctly in her effort to secure the dogs, yet the officers still "went around and killed them."
"They had a warrant to search the house," Olson said. "That we don't really quarrel with. But when you search the house, you can't go in the house and kill all the dogs."
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, names the city of Detroit and five police officers. Three of the officers are identified: Officer Gaines, Officer Paul, and Officer Morrison.
The Detroit Police Department declined to comment.
"She's terrified," Olson said of Smith. "Those same cops drive through her neighborhood every day."