What happens when the trigger gets pulled

It started as a report of a discharge of a weapon.

It ended as an example of the meaning of a random act of kindness, and what the lasting ramifications are when someone elects to fire a gun.

At about 11 p.m. June 12, Cheney dispatch received a call of two shots fired, a female screaming and dogs barking near Cheney-Spokane Road and Alki Street. Officer Rocky Hanni responded and spotlighted a 24-year-old male walking towards him on Alki.

According to the police report, the man raised his hands and told Hanni he had a gun in his sweat-jacket pocket. Hanni confiscated the weapon, handcuffed the man, and began questioning him.

The man told him he had been walking along Alki when two dogs ran barking at him from a residence. The man said he faced the dogs and yelled at them, but in doing so he tripped and fell to the ground. It was then that he pulled out his handgun, a Springfield 9mm XD that he carried a permit for, and fired two rounds into the ground to scare the dogs, which then ran off.

Hanni wrote that the man, who is not named because he has not been charged with a crime, had dirt on his pants consistent with a fall. The man said the owner of the dogs ran towards him, apologizing for the animals’ behavior and telling him they were friendly dogs and would not hurt him.

At this point, Cheney Sgt. Chad Eastep arrived on scene and spoke with the dogs’ owner, 18-year-old Savannah Humphrey, who corroborated the man’s story. In an interview, Humphrey said the man seemed more terrified about discharging the gun.

“The first thing he said was ‘I’m so, so sorry,’” Humphrey said. “We didn’t care about the dogs (at the time); we were worried about him.”

The man was released and not charged, in essence ending the incident.

“That was the extent of the report that I got from that night,” Sgt. Rick Beghtol said in an interview. He added no charges were recommended because it was self-defense, and case law in making that determination is clear.

“It’s in the perception of the person who feels threatened,” Beghtol said. “The perception was he was going to be hurt by the dogs.”

Meanwhile, Humphrey began looking for her dogs, a German Shepard and an Aussie collie red-heeler named Tala. She took to Facebook, posting updates the next few hours as friends and followers looked for the animals. She also began having second thoughts about what took place, especially the discharging of the gun.

“The more I thought, I thought my 2-year-old daughter runs out with the dogs sometimes to greet people,” Humphrey said. “(She) could’ve done that, and something like that (discharging the gun) could have happened.”

About five hours later the dogs returned. In a June 15 police report, Humphrey said Tala had “suffered a significant injury to a leg.”

The family took Tala to Blackhawk Veterinary Clinic, where it was determined she had been shot. Pictures were taken, and Beghtol said in reviewing those the entry and exit wounds were consistent with a 9mm round.

The damage was too severe to repair, so vets amputated Tala’s leg. Humphrey had been updating Tala’s status on Facebook the entire time, and it was here that anonymous individuals stepped up to pay the animal’s $450 first-day medical bill.

That still leaves the family to cover the remaining $1,025 amputation bill, but Humphrey is very grateful nonetheless.

“I felt completely and totally overwhelmed,” she said of the response. “And it wasn’t just people calling about what happened. It was people calling and asking how she (Tala) was doing.”

The incident was picked up by an alternative online news site and a local TV station, which contacted Beghtol June 14 — the first time he learned the dog had been shot. Beghtol subsequently interviewed Humphrey the next day to get more information, including that the man was listening to headphones when he passed the house and may not have heard Humphrey say the animals were friendly.

Beghtol contacted the man, who he said was very upset the dog had been injured. Beghtol added that charges have been forwarded to the prosecuting attorney for consideration.

Beghtol said using a firearm for defense carries a lot of responsibilities and liabilities.

“It is supposed to be the last ditch effort,” he said. “It is not supposed to be the first option when something scares you. When those things (bullets) come out, they have to go somewhere.”

MORE INFO

The following United States firearms statistics are current through June 28, 2016:

Total number of incidents 25,785

Number of deaths 6,639

Number of injuries 13,698

Number of children (age 0-11)

killed or injured 280

Number of teens (age 12-17)

killed or injured 1,444

Mass shootings 163

Officer involved incidents

officer shot or killed 159

Officer involved incidents

perpetrator shot or killed 407

Home invasion 1,082

Defensive use 796

Accidental shooting 1,113

Source: GunViolenceArchive.org

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.