Last week, Stan Rosenblatt of Montgomery County, was prepared to take his his Akita mix, Bruce Willis, out for a walk at the condo complex where he and his wife, Joan,reside.
When he approached the lobby door with Bruce on a retractable leash, another man who was walking his dog was on the outside of this same door attempting to enter. Reports have stated that this man from Tempe, Arizona was visiting his father who lived in the complex.
According to Stan, he told this armed off-duty police officer not to come into the lobby since he didn’t know how the two dogs would get along especially since Bruce was barking at this other dog. According to Stan in the video, he shows how he raised his arm and put his hand out to signal to this other man to stop when trying to enter the building.
Unfortuantely the other man didn’t listen, according to Stan. Bruce was able to get outside since he was on that particular type of leash. The next thing heard were gunshots. Bruce Willis, Stan and Joan’s beloved dog, had been shot to death.
The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s office is trying to determine if a crime was committed. At this point, no charges have been filed.
Bruce did NOT attack the man nor his dog but felt threatened by Bruce, so he says.
My question to you- Do you feel this off-duty police officer has just cause to shoot and kill Bruce even though he was warned not to come into the building as Stan states? Even if this officer wasn’t warned, did he still have just reason to shoot and kill this dog?
Bruce did not attack the officer or his dog but the officer felt threatend- then, why didn’t he just pull back on his own dog’s leash. Bruce was on a leash- yes , a retractable one. A retractable can reach only so many feet. Separating two dogs on leashes is an easy fix to this type of problem.
Why did this man have to kill Bruce when there was no direct threat or direct contact from this dog? What do you think his reasons for killing this beloved pet were? It remains to be seen if this man will be charged.
This off-duty police officer’s actions do not make sense to me. There was no direct threat. But if there was a threat, all he had to do was to simply walk away from the entrance with his dog until Stan and Bruce left the building. The officer’s case doesn’t add up for me. A needless and senseless tragedy!
The father of the off duty officer has offered his condolences to the Rosenblatt family.
A candlelight vigil will be held tomorrow night, Jan. 30th between 6:30- 7PM. It will be held at the main entrance of the Reserve at Gwnyedd located at Morris Road near Rt. 202. All are welcome.
I want to thank Linda G. for the link to this story.