Detroit police investigate after officer shoots at dog, bullet strikes home

3 children were home, nobody was hurt

DETROIT – A homeowner demanded answers from Detroit police after a bullet came into his house while his three children were home, police are still investigating the incident.

The shot was fired when a dog charged at an officer. The homeowner took cellphone video of the incident. No one was hurt.

"The officers were responding to a call for a vicious animal complaint, where it was suggested the animal was chasing a 13-year-old and possibly even a mail carrier," said Detroit police Deputy Chief Elvin Barren. "The animal did charge at the officer and she fired one round from her department issued weapon.

That bullet did not hit the dog and instead struck a nearby home, which is where Antonio Cargill and his family live.

"Based on the video that was shown last night on your station, we did see that the bullet did ricochet and enter into that living room," Barren said.

"That could have killed somebody," Cargill said.

When Cargill went outside to tell police the bullet hit his house, he claims the police officers dismissed his concerns.

"Nobody even came over here," he said. "They didn't say nothing about, 'Oh, did we hit anybody?' Or, 'Anybody OK?'"

Barren refutes that claim and said officers investigated after the shooting.

"The lieutenant went back out to the scene, did conduct his further investigation; he called for evidence techs where they did respond and took photos," Barren said.

The incident is still under investigation, but the question remains whether the officer will get in trouble for the shooting or not.


About the Authors

Koco joined the Local 4 News team in September of 2016. She was born and raised in Metro Detroit, attended Central Michigan University, and previously worked at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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