Oklahoma family says cop fatally shot their dog and bragged 'it was awesome'

An Oklahoma family said a police officer shot and killed their dog last week and then bragged about it afterward.

Sarah Brown said her family’s 2-year-old pit bull, Cali, escaped the yard of their Ardmore home Wednesday, and police said neighbors reported the dog running loose.

Police said the dog was wearing a collar but no tags, and animal control officers tried several times unsuccessfully to catch the animal and determine its owner.

A mail carrier had reported in January that he was confronted by a dog that matched Cali’s description, but a neighbor said she knew the owner and took the dog home.

Officer Brice Woolly wrote in his report that the dog acted aggressively toward animal control officers and several residents near a public park.

Woolly said he used his assigned shotgun to shoot the dog once in the neck, wounding it, and he asked an animal control officer to fire a second shot from a .22-caliber firearm to kill the dog.

Capt. Eric Hamblin said Woolly had acted appropriately by shooting the dog.

"I don't think it's prudent and I don't think it's wise for the police department to wait until a dog acting aggressively actually bites somebody,” Hamblin said.

Police told Brown they had killed her dog about 10 minutes later, when she asked if they’d seen it.

"I cried so much and just began to figure out what needed to be done because I knew this totally unjust," Brown said.

A neighbor told Brown that she did not see police shoot Cali, but she heard the shot and saw the officers’ reaction.

"Did you see the way its collar flew up into the air when I blew its head off?” Woolly told the animal control officer, according to the neighbor. “It was awesome!"

The neighbor said Woolly also bragged about shooting another dog with his handgun a few days earlier.

Woolly filed a report March 14 stating that he had shot another pit bull that residents complained had acted aggressively toward children.

Animal control officers had received several complaints about that dog in previous weeks.

The dog’s owner was cited but never showed up to city court.

Woolly shot that dog four times with his service weapon before killing the animal.

A Facebook page seeking “Justice for Cali” has attracted more than 2,000 likes, and a Change.org petition calling for Woolly to be fired has gathered more than 16,000 signatures.

Prosecutors are investigating the case, but Woolly remains on the job and says he’s received death threats since shooting the dog.

Watch this video report posted online by KSDK-TV: