UPDATE: Officer resigns after allegedly shooting, killing Hennessey family’s dog

UPDATE @ 2:40 P.M. 9/6/2024

On Friday, the Town of Hennessey announced that Hennessey Police officer Tyler Baxter, the officer accused of shooting and killing a local family’s dog, has submitted his resignation to the department.

ORIGINAL STORY

HENNESSEY, Okla. (KFOR) — A Hennessey family is heartbroken after they say their dog was shot and killed by a police officer.

Their full blood Corgi, Ace, wandered out of the house and was missing. A good Samaritan found him and brought him to a police officer thinking he would be safe, but the opposite happened.

Image of the Corgi that was killed provided by the family
Image of the Corgi that was killed provided by the family

Instead of taking Ace to safety or looking for his owners, a Hennessey Police officer allegedly shot and killed the dog.

“Who could do that? Like, he was the sweetest dog. I’m sure he was licking them and smiling like he always did. Like, I just don’t see how somebody would have the heart to do that,” said McKenzie Tucker, brother’s dog killed.

Tucker says the officer’s reasoning also comes as a shock.

“He said that because if he just let it go in the wild, that he was trying to save it from coyotes or other animals getting to him and stuff, so he just went ahead and saved him from that,” said Tucker.

Image of the family's dog they say was killed by a police officer
Image of the family's dog they say was killed by a police officer
Image of the family's dog as a puppy they say was killed
Image of the family's dog as a puppy they say was killed
image of the family's dog they say was killed
image of the family's dog they say was killed

The family wishes the officer would have found a kennel or made a simple social media post.

“We live in a small town, you know, it doesn’t take long for somebody to post a picture and somebody knows whose dog it is and it just would have taken two minutes to make a post and share it,” said Tucker.

Dog goes missing from Shawnee boarding facility

Like many smaller Oklahoma communities, Hennessey does not have a city animal shelter, however, the family says there are kennels the officer could have brought Ace to.

News 4 went to the Hennessey Police Department to ask if they could confirm the incident.

“We’re looking into it. At this time, we’re not able to release anything on that. When and if we are able to we’ll notify you guys,” said Chief Aaron Pitts, Hennessey Police Department.

The Town of Hennessey released the following statement.

Officer Baxter has been placed on paid administrative leave while we conduct our internal investigation.  That is all the information I can release at this time.

Tiffany Tillman, town administrator for the Town of Hennessey

“Something needs to be done because another family doesn’t need to go through this or something worse happening,” said Tucker.

The family still does not know where Ace’s remains are.

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