Arkansas Official Allegedly Gunned Down Pet Dog After Entering Wrong Home

An official in Arkansas was under investigation for allegedly fatally shooting a pet dog after entering a wrong home Monday morning.

The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office investigator James Freeman arrived at Chris Coiner’s home while conducting a sex offender compliance check. He shot Coiner’s three-year-old Terrier mix, Clide, in the head allegedly for barking. The incident was reportedly caught on camera.

Recalling the incident, Coiner told ABC-affiliated television station KATV, "My daughter was coming to the door and said somebody was in the driveway. Just a blue pickup, unmarked. Before I was even around the corner here, I heard a shot, and the officer had shot my dog right here in the yard for barking at him. My girlfriend watched it out the window, the dog was not attacking him, the dog was barking, in my yard, on private property."

"I asked him why he was here, and he said he was looking for somebody named Samuel at 72 Autumn Hills Road which is the next-door neighbor. I didn’t know this at the time, but I had found out he had already been to 72 which was the right address, so he knew he was not at the right address and he shot my dog for barking at him," he told the television station.

Matt Rice, Chief Deputy Sheriff at Faulkner County Sheriff Department, confirmed the incident was under internal investigation. He said the officer remained on duty.

The incident comes months after a Georgia deputy fatally shot a K-9 unit dog during a chase for a suspect.

Cpl. Brandon Kilgore and the dog responded to a domestic dispute call during which they spotted the suspect fleeing the home, resulting in a police chase.

Kilgore left the canine in the car and joined the chase for the suspect. The dog, however, managed to get out of the vehicle from a window and began chasing a deputy assuming him to be a suspect. The canine then attacked the deputy and latched onto his leg. The deputy, who didn’t know the canine was a department dog, took out his gun and shot the dog.