Intimidated by the family dog at a home to which he had been summoned by what may have been a spurious call, a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy discharged his gun at the pet, nicking it and in process slightly injuring a child who was hit by flying fragments of concrete and mortar caused by the ricocheting bullet.
The matter was yet under investigation at press time as members of the department are looking into the series of events that led to the shooting Tuesday evening August 14, after which both the young boy and the dog appear safe.
On Tuesday evening, the department’s dispatch center received a call reporting a “disturbance” at a home in the 15000 block of Tournament Drive in Helendale.
Upon arriving at the home at 8:56 p.m., the deputy approached the front door and knocked. An 11-year-old boy answered. A male German shepherd, the family pet, was with him.
The dog advanced on the unidentified deputy, who unholstered his service weapon and fired a single shot. The discharged bullet grazed the dog in the paw and the side of its torso, and then careened about, chipping the cement on the porch and stucco from the house. The flying debris hit the lad, abrading the anterior side of his left leg.
In short order, an emergency medical response team that is part of the county’s Fire Protection District-5 were summoned. Upon arriving at the Tournament Drive residence, paramedics determined the boy’s wounds were superficial and non-life threatening. He was not transported to a hospital or medical facility, but was rendered first aid at the location.
One of the boy’s parents took the dog to a veterinarian, who provided the animal with treatment. The dog’s injuries were insubstantial and it is expected to fully recover.
All officer-involved shootings are subject to department review, and an inquiry was initiated. It has been determined that the individual who summoned the department with the report of a “disturbance” was an extended family member who did not reside at the Tournament Drive residence and who had departed from the location prior to the deputy’s arrival.
A review of the call and the representations that were made in the course of the exchange with dispatch personnel is being undertaken.
Given the events that ensued from the call, if it is determined that any misrepresentation took place during the brief phone contact, things may not go well for the reporting party, who could be charged with filing a false police report or swatting, i.e., deceiving an emergency service into making an emergency response under false pretenses.