Officer shoots, kills dog

A Mountlake Terrace Police officer shot and killed a dog as it raced toward him during the early morning hours of Friday, May 25.

Police responded to a report of two men arguing in front of their house in the 5000 block of 213th Street Southwest at 1:26 a.m., according to a police report.

The two officers, Tim Krahn and Mike Hoeth, approached a house on the block where the two men had reportedly been arguing. When officers arrived, the men had gone inside the house and officers could hear them arguing.

As officers approached the house, two dogs — a white dog and a dark-colored dog they described as “pit-bull like” — charged after Krahn, who responded by shooting the dark-colored dog with his service revolver, according to the report.

Both dogs retreated into the house.

The dog’s owner shouted at the officers, warning them that he would come after them if his dog died. Police later found the dog dead inside the house.

“They both obviously drew their weapons because it was clear the dogs were in attack mode,” said police Chief Scott Smith.

Krahn and Hoeth told the suspect to come out of the house but he refused and continued yelling at the officers, according to the report.

The suspect’s brother complied with police requests to leave the house.

When the suspect emerged from the house, he approached both officers “in a threatening manner,” the report said, continuing to ignore their requests to lie on the ground. One of the officers sprayed pepper spray into his face and officers were then able to place him in handcuffs and arrest him for disorderly conduct. They booked him into Snohomish County Jail.

Police detectives arrived at the scene to investigate the shooting incident.

“There’s no question the officer acted appropriately,” Smith said, adding that he questioned why the dogs were allowed out of the house when the officers showed up.

“That’s going to be a question that we’ll have to ask,” he said.