Remember those SWAT raids in Buffalo? I’ll have more on them in a couple of days. Let’s just say they weren’t nearly as successful as first claimed.

But keeping with our theme of SWAT thugs murdering the family dog, this letter appeared in the Buffalo News last month, in response to the paper’s report that one SWAT team killed “three pit bulls:”

On April 20, a drug raid was carried out by Buffalo SWAT officers. The warrant they had was for marijuana only, not guns or narcotics, as one News reporter wrote. A loud, concussion device was detonated first, and then shotgun blasts were heard all the way down the street. A 1-year-old child was present at the time, and he wasn’t carried out of the house in the same instant as the shotgun blasts started, as reported.

This child not only heard all this, but also witnessed his beloved pets get brutally slaughtered right in front of his tender eyes. Oddessy, a boxer mix; her pup, Snoop; and a pit bull terrier, Ginger, were all pets. They weren’t fighters, vicious or unlicensed — they were friendly, lovable dogs; just ask anyone who knew them.

When the officers came in, they came to kill the dogs. Oddessy ran between one of her owner’s legs, and was blasted in the head. Snoop was shot twice. Ginger was shot as she ran into a back bedroom, where she was cornered by officers and hit with four more shotgun blasts. The dogs were carried out of the house in garbage bags. If you can’t report the facts, get out of the business.

Saundra Lobley
Buffalo

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 6th, 2006 at 9:16 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Police Militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.