San Francisco police release video showing what led an officer to shoot a man and a dog
By Jose Fabian
San Francisco police on Tuesday released body camera footage of a police shooting that happened after an unprovoked dog attack on Nov. 9.
The video shows the officer shooting the dog and the man, and it shows the events leading up to the shooting.
The incident began after a dog bit a bystander around 4:30 p.m., near Market and O’Farrell streets. The victim contacted officers, and police eventually found the suspect and the dog walking on Market Street, between Grant Avenue and 4th Street. According to police, the dog appeared to be a husky/shepherd mix.
Video shows the dog going toward officer #2 while officer #1 approaches the man, who was identified as 29-year-old Trusten Eaton. Officer #2 is seen walking backwards to distance himself from the dog and telling the man he is under arrest.
However, Eaton walks away from them after some initial questioning. The officers then continued to follow him, telling him to stop and that he was under arrest.
At one point, one of the officers tells Eaton that he is going to shoot his dog, as the dog continues to approach and retreat from the officers.
Officer #1 then grabs Eaton and tells him he is under arrest, and the dog is shown to immediately run toward officer #2, who has his gun drawn. That officer then shoots the dog.
Immediately after the shot was fired, Eaton freed himself from officer #1’s hold, ran at the officer who shot the dog, and threw a plastic water bottle at him. Officer #2 then fired his gun again, this time shooting Eaton, police said.
Eaton and the dog then ran from the officers after a brief struggle.
He was arrested after a short chase with the help of additional officers. During the arrest, however, the dog returned and bit an officer.
According to police, the dog was taken to a vet by animal care and control, and Eaton was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive.
The bystander who was bitten took himself to the hospital, police said.
