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St. Paul police shoot, kill 2 family dogs in SWAT raid - KMSP-TV
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St. Paul police shoot, kill 2 family dogs in SWAT raid
Posted: Jul 09, 2014 6:09 PM PDT
Updated: Jul 09, 2014 6:25 PM PDT
posted by Shelby Capacio - email
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) -
A St. Paul mother told Fox 9 News that although it's hard to explain how she feels, she knows she is very angry at police after a SWAT team executed a no-knock warrant on her home Wednesday and killed her dogs.
"I was laying right here, and I really thought I was being murdered," Larry Lee Arman admitted. "I don't want to say by who. I thought it was like, the government."
Arman got right down onto his living room floor to show what he says unfolded early Wednesday morning in his St. Paul home. Tune in to Fox 9 News @ 10 to see homeowners give a tour the scene.
"The first thing I heard was 'boom,'" he recalled. "Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. Right in front of us."
It was 7 a.m. when police executed what is known as a no-knock search warrant. Arman said he and his two children were sleeping on a mattress when armed members of the SWAT team barged through the front door. The next thing he remembers is seeing the family's long-time dogs stagger and fall.
The blood of the two pit bulls -- named Mello and Laylo -- is still staining the carpet, and Arman's sneakers.
"One was running for her life, and they murdered her right here," he said.
Arman's girlfriend, Camille Perry, was in the bathroom at the time. She raced to cover the couple's young children, who she contends were right in the line of fire while sleeping at ground level.
"The only thing I was thinking was my kids were going to get hit by bullets," she said.
A St. Paul police spokesman told Fox 9 News that the dogs charged at officers, and that they feared for their safety. The spokesman also explained that law enforcement has the right to eliminate potential threats with lethal force, and he pointed out that a judge signed off on the search for weapons and drugs and that investigators believed they were entering a dangerous situation. Arman says that couldn't be further from the case.
"Yeah, I smoke marijuana," he said. "I do."
Arman admits he is a recreational smoker, but he is not the only one questioning the police tactics on East Maryland Avenue. Neighbors aren't pleased either.
"All of a sudden, we see the dogs thrown out like pieces of meat, like they were nothing," Shawn Miller said. "We teared up because they are like family to us. Those dogs are real good dogs."
The only items seized during Wednesday's raid included clothing, a glass bong and suspected marijuana remnants in a metal grinder.
goin down swingin huh? Look I'm not arguing against no-knock raids here and imo they should have saved the taxpayers some money and shot that piece of shit in the street when they first caught him on the rape charges but this was NOT a no-knock raid anyway comparable to the previous ones mentioned
