During the past few days Social Media heated up in the Piedmont area about a dog being shot by a police officer.

WEIS News reached out to Police Chief, Nathan Johnson, about the matter. Chief Johnson tells us he investigated this situation to determine exactly what happened and why it happened.

Johnson tells us about the circumstances surrounding the incident: The off duty officer was at his home, not in uniform, and not at work. It was reported that he came outside with his dogs into his front yard as he does most everyday. A black 45lb-50lb black dog ran into his front yard. His smallest dog saw it and started barking then chased the dog out of the yard. The black dog came running back into the yard with aggression growling and chasing his dog around in the front yard. There were attempts to run the dog off by kicking at it trying to get it to disengage. The dog turned away then re-engaged. The dog came around him and started running toward the other two dogs aggressively when he took a single shot. The dog ran back to its yard approximately 150 yards away on another street.

 He said, A thorough investigation was conducted into this matter. All facts in the investigation were reviewed by the court with no identifying information of parties involved to remove any possibility of the perception of bias.

 The court determined that the case does not hold a criminal element and there was no criminal intent based on the facts and statements made by both parties. The dog was on another’s property, described to have aggressive behavior, and the action taken was not without cause. The investigation of this case has been transparent with the parties involved to include their family members since its occurrence.

 Chief Johnson told WEIS Radio News he wants the residents of Piedmont to have the facts about the situation.