More details about the three dogs shot and killed by OPD

Blue, Chewer and Runner [Facebook]

The Ocala Police Department has initiated an internal investigation into a Jan. 20 service call that ended with three dogs shot dead and two homeowners on the same street in the Bellechase neighborhood with property damage from bullets fired by two OPD officers.

OPD and Marion County Animal Control have not supplied records to Gazette’s requests; however, the dogs’ owners–Bryan Strawn and his wife, Annie, who live in an adjacent neighborhood—provided information about the incident and the records they obtained.

Bryan Strawn told the “Gazette” the three dogs were American and English Staffordshire mix and were not yet a year old. “They were murdered because they assumed the breed and age and assumed they were aggressive,” he said. “Only because of the breed they were murdered.”

According to officer statements, OPD Officers J. McCurdy and J. Wood responded to a request by Marion County Animal Control to do a wellness check in the early morning hours of Jan. 20 on a man named Ross Moes, who had called the agency about “five aggressive pit bull dogs” and who was no longer answering his phone.

“Around 12:30 a.m., I let my dog out my back lanai to pee,” Moes wrote in an animal control incident report. “I opened the door and she stopped and immediately ran back in. I noticed the three pit bulls running right at me. I slammed the screen door and 1 of the dogs hit it. I stepped and closed the sliders. The dogs did not leave, so about 10 minutes later I called 911.”

The officers’ statements indicate they arrived in the Bellechase neighborhood around 3:15 a.m. and were given permission by Moes to enter his home. “I entered Moes’ residence and followed him to his back door where I observed three pit bulls aggressively barking and scratching at the screen trying to enter the patio,” McCurdy said in his statement.

“Moes stated prior to calling he was in his backyard when he heard the three dogs barking and approaching him. Moes stated the dogs came for him, so he quickly returned inside his patio. Moes stated the dogs nearly bit him before he was able to get inside,” the statement reads.

About 40 minutes later, according to the statement, the officers saw the dogs move to the front of the house so they followed and observed the dogs in a nearby street intersection within view of the house. The officers warned an early morning jogger to go away.

During that interaction, Woods wrote, “I looked around the corner and observed the dogs approaching me and Officer McCurdy. I drew my department-issued firearm and faced the dogs, who were now running toward me. The dogs did not stop, and I discharged my department-issued firearm into the gray dog.”

Woods indicated that when he was shooting the dog “two bullets and/or bullet fragments” struck the garage door, and two others struck the wall to the right side of the door.

McCurdy’s statement read similarly.

“The dogs turned to face me, so I drew my department firearm and faced them,” he wrote. “The three dogs began running toward me and Officer Woods. The three dogs did not stop, so I discharged my firearm into the tan dog, followed by the gray dog and the black dog.”

The wounded black dog ran between two houses to the backyard. McCurdy wrote that he reloaded and fired more shots before the black dog fell to the ground. After following McCurdy to the backyard, Woods wrote that he also “discharged my firearm into the black dog.”

McCurdy estimates, “in total, I fired 25 rounds. Officer Woods fired a total of six rounds.”

According to a Marion County Animal Control incident report authored by Sharon Beardsley, she received a call from the OPD officers around 3:40 a.m. and heard dogs in the background. At 4:22 a.m.,  she wrote, she was told by dispatch that the dogs had been shot.

Beardsley’s statement said she arrived on scene at 4:40 a.m. and spoke with the two officers who shot the dogs as well as Sgt. Joe Tussey. “They felt it was necessary to act at the time due to the behavior of the dogs,” she wrote in her report.

Beardsley recounted a conversation with Annie Strawn, one of the owners of the dogs.

“We tried to explain that unfortunately had the dogs not been loose, the incident may not have occurred. Mrs. Annie stated they are dogs and dogs get loose and she and her husband work over 40 hours and have secured the fence all they can,” according to the report.

According to the Animal Control record, on Feb. 4 the dogs–Blue, Chewer and Runner—were taken to a UF Veterinary College Forensic Lab for a necropsy. Authorities indicated they could not release the dogs until after the procedure..

The Strawns are anxious to see the body camera footage from both officers who shot their dogs and any information about the jogger whom officers worried was threatened.

The “Gazette” asked Chief Michael Balken to view the body camera footage and additional officer statements. Still, he indicated they would not be released for another two weeks when the investigation was concluded.

Two Bellechase residents are negotiating with the city of Ocala to be reimbursed for damages to their home and a vehicle.

The Strawns indicate they are hiring legal counsel.