Graphic Video Shows NYPD Cop Shooting Dog at Point-Blank Range
The shooting took place on Feb. 13.
— -- Newly released CCTV footage shows a deadly encounter between an armed NYPD cop and a family pit bull.
The NYPD confirmed the drama unfolded at 5:27 a.m. on Feb. 13 in an apartment building hallway in the Bronx, New York.
The NYPD said officers were responding to a call at the apartment building on East 184th Street.
The dramatic surveillance footage shows the dog wagging its tail as it approaches the officer who backs away with his handgun drawn. He then fires a single bullet at pointblank range, hitting the dog in the head.
The NYPD said the dog came out of a different apartment unit than the one the officers visited.
ABC's New York station WABC reported that the dog emerged into the hallway when its owner, Yvonne Rosado, opened her door after hearing police. Rosado has not responded to ABC News' request for comment.
David Thompson of the law firm Stecklow & Thompson, who is representing Rosado, told ABC News that she has filed a notice of claim against the city.
“The police were responding to a call, not from Yvonne’s apartment, but from her next door neighbor. The call, as I understand it, was not an emergency call. It was related to a non-violent violation of an order of protection,” he told ABC News.
The NYPD released the following statement to ABC News: "The incident is being reviewed by our Force Investigation Division and the findings will be subject to a firearms discharge review board."
Police would not release the officer's name or comment on whether or not he is still on active duty while investigations continue.
The NYPD's Annual Firearms report states, "Police officers shall not discharge their firearms at a dog or other animal except to protect themselves or another person from physical injury and there is no other reasonable means to eliminate the threat."
Nine dogs were intentionally and fatally killed by NYPD officers in 2014, according to the department's 2014 annual firearms report.