A Wayne State University police officer who, body camera footage showed, shot an unleashed family dog that ran toward the officer and his partner as they were responding to a police call at an apartment complex last Friday has been cleared of any wrongdoing, according to WSU Police Chief Anthony Holt.

The officer involved and his partner were responding to two calls from The Cultural Gardens apartment complex in Midtown last Friday night — one call for a domestic violence incident and the second for a welfare check. As they arrived at the front door of one of the buildings, according to police, the dog, a 10-year-old goldendoodle named Ace, came around the corner of the complex in a threatening manner and the officer shot the dog to protect himself and his partner. The dog was hit in the jaw but survived the shooting.

The story of the shooting, first reported by the Free Press, went viral on social media and prompted stories from other news media outlets, even national ones such as Newsweek. While WSU public safety officials were not initially available for comment, Holt said an investigation into the shooting was completed Wednesday and the shooting was deemed justified.

“I’m very remorseful that this happened,” Holt said. “The officer is, too. But the officer, in my opinion, had no recourse.”

For transparency, Holt's department released a 25-second video clip of the incident from the body camera of the officer who shot the dog. The footage shows the two officers as they walk up to a duplex set of residents' doors in The Cultural Gardens. While the officers are discussing which of the two doors is the correct dwelling of the complaints, the dog appears out of the darkness.

One officer can be heard in the video warning his partner to “watch that dog over there.” The dog continues to approach the officers, the video shows, then begins to run toward the officers, barking loudly. The video shows the officer say “Uh-uh” twice while quickly backpedaling, before two gunshots are fired at the dog, which whined and ran away. As the officer is backing away, the video shows Ace's owner, Justin Fuller, also appearing from around the corner.

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The family of the dog told the Free Press that Ace is a registered emotional support animal and that he is the “sweetest boy ever” who enjoys chasing birds and squirrels and daily walks at Belle Isle. They question why the officer did not warn Fuller to get Ace before shooting.

Holt says he does not know what type of training could be provided when an officer only has a split second to make a decision when a dog is “charging at them.” He said he will, however, have the department's K-9 trainer review the video footage to see if there was anything different that the officer could have done. Holt noted that his department has had only one other dog shooting and that was in 1984.

In this incident, Holt said, there was no way for his officers to know Ace was a family dog or anything about his background. He said the dog was not on a leash, and from his viewpoint after seeing the body camera footage, and the officer’s viewpoint, the dog was not coming to be friendly.

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William Bessant, who has 17 years of canine training in family obedience, behavior modification and protection along with competitive dog training, says that after reviewing the footage, he agrees the officers were in a compromising situation and had to do something to protect themselves.

Robin Gamble, the mother of Ace’s owner, says that shooting a dog should not be an officer's first choice and that she wants to see more training in police departments when dealing with canines. She said she plans to file a complaint against the officer.

Attorney Michael J. Morse, who is not involved in this case but has represented many cases related to dog bites, says that in most Michigan cases that involve the police shooting of a dog, the dog owner will not be able to recover any damages because police have qualified immunity. In addition, he said, the Dog Law of 1919 explicitly states that “there shall be no liability on [a police officer] in damages or otherwise” for killing, or in this case, injuring a dog that is attacking people.

At most, Morse said, the family of Ace may be able to recover fees for the vet bills from Ace’s care after the shooting.

While Morse said he believes the family of Ace when they say he is friendly, “I also sympathize with the position the police officer was in when a large dog was running at them barking. The big takeaway for everyone here is that even if your dog is typically well behaved and friendly, make sure to keep them on a leash when you are letting them out to the bathroom (especially at night).”

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police body cam proves dog shooting justified, Wayne State chief says