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E-mail This StoryNeighbors on Watson Drive and Cotton Ridge near Bennett Elementary on the west side of town say they are concerned and living in fear for their pets and children after a man down the street shot one family's dog on Tuesday morning.
McKinney police said that the man is Jason Chapman, a Dallas Police officer who lives in McKinney The shooting is under investigation by McKinney and Dallas police. Neighbors said the man did not say he was with the police.
Neighbors told the dog's owner that the Camryn, a 3-year-old light buckskin-tan coated pit bull owned by Eric and Kevyn Allen, had broken free from its yard about 10 a.m.
"It was normal for our dogs to run up and down the fence chasing rabbits in the hedges though Stonebridge," said Kevyn Allen. She said a large number of rabbits live in the Summerset addition near Custer Road.
Witnesses said a man in a car coaxed the dog over. Neighbors said they were horrified two hear two shots. Several residents went outside only to see a man fire more shots from a handgun at the dog.
"My dog is not the only dog that gets out,'' said pet owner Kevyn Allen. "Why did he have to shoot my dog? Our whole family is beside itself. There was no reason to shoot Camryn. Was it because she was a pit bull? She was the nicest dog. She was great with kids and everyone. Our neighbors even said she was happy and wagging her tail when the man coaxed her over."
What happened next shocked her neighbors, who called police.
"Then, he just went boom, boom, boom, boom into the dog," Allen said. "He emptied his gun into our dog. That is just wrong. It was a family pet. It is just mind-blowing knowing that the man who shot your dog lives down the street from you."
Mrs. Allen said that neighbors Gregory Jones and Naomi Jones called police and gave the man's license plate number. That's when the neighbors learned the man was a Dallas police officer. Two others also saw the shooting, according to an incident report which said the man fired a gun in a residential area.
McKinney police issued a release Wednesday evening about the shooting in the 8300 block of Cotton Ridge saying that "Thus far, the investigation has yielded that Jason Chapman (white male, DOB 11/17/1983) shot and killed a pit-bull dog after the pit-bull and another dog cornered his wife, Tamra Chapman, near a tree while she was out walking. Tamra Chapman stated she was scared as she was screaming and crying during the incident. No charges are pending at this time. Mr. Chapman is an officer with the Dallas Police Department. Both the McKinney Police Department and the Dallas Police Department are investigating the incident."
Neighbors told Mrs. Allen that the man scolded them, saying they shouldn't let their dog out.
"He thought it was their dog," she said. "At first he said his wife was scared of the dog, and that's why he killed our dog. But, if she was afraid of the dog, why didn't they call Animal Control? You're not just supposed to shoot someone's family dog. He did not identify himself as a police officer. Our neighbors didn't know who he was or what he was up to when he started shooting a handgun."
She said she intends to file charges with Dallas Police.
The family's other dog, Sierra, was also out that morning. Kevyn Allen said Animal Control called her that day to say they had found the red-coated Sierra shaking on the porch.
