Las Vegas family may sue after officer shoots dog

A Las Vegas family is considering a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Police Department after an officer shot the family dog while in their backyard last month, according to their lawyer.

“The family is extremely distraught,” said the Quintero family’s lawyer, Andre Lagomarsino. “They feel traumatized at that house now.”

Officers initially responded to a report of a fatal traffic accident on the 2200 block of Cascade Street on July 27 and after locating the deceased victim, began to knock on neighbors’ doors, according to Metro police statements and body camera footage from the department.

One of the officers entering the yard can be seen in the video rounding a corner and locating the dog heard barking for several seconds.

The officer instructs others to “get back” before seeking cover in the side alley himself. The dog can then be seen running toward the side alley where the officers are, and when his face is toward the officer, he shoots twice, immobilizing the pit bull.

The family has four children between ages 8 and 12, and though neighbors have offered them other pit bulls, Lagomarsino said they are struggling to explain to the children “what happened and why it happened.”

Lagomarsino said they’ve also obtained records from the family’s pest control service and neighbors that he said prove the dog, Marley, was never an issue for the other people it encountered.

“The neighbors never had an animal complaint. Not once,” he said.

The family is waiting for Metro to complete its internal investigation and will determine whether to file a lawsuit in the next 30 days, Lagomarsino said Friday.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.