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Cop shoots child's barking dog dead after going to wrong house

WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: A police investigator shot dead a family’s pet dog after he went to the wrong house in search of a convicted child sex offender.

Disturbing footage filmed by father Chris Coiner shows the officer standing by his navy SUV at the property in Faulkner County in the US state of Arkansas as he’s confronted by an enraged Mr Coiner last Monday.

He approaches the officer who identifies himself as Investigator Freeman and tells Mr Coiner he is looking for Samuel at a nearby property.

“That’s over there you goddamn moron! Get off my property! You shot and killed my dog!” Mr Coiner shouts as the camera pans to his dog Clide lying lifeless on a lawn.

Mr Coiner filmed the aftermath with Freeman. Source: Facebook
Mr Coiner filmed the aftermath with Investigator Freeman. Source: Facebook

Mr Coiner later told ABC7 his 14-year-old daughter was returning from school when she informed him there was a man on their property.

As her father was coming out of the home he said he heard a gunshot. He says Mr Freeman shot Clide in the head for barking at him.

“My girlfriend watched it out the window, the dog was not attacking him, the dog was barking, in my yard, on private property,” Mr Coiner said.

Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed investigator James Freeman was searching for 74-year-old Samuel Hess who was convicted of molesting a child in 1997. His whereabouts was being sort after failing to provide authorities with a suitable address.

A spokesperson told ABC7 Mr Freeman was subject to an internal investigation however he had not been suspended whilst investigations took place.

Mr Coiner is now calling for answers after Freeman visited the correct address before making his way to Mr Coiner’s property.

The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office says someone at the correct address told Mr Freeman that Hess was at the neighbour’s property.

Mr Coiner's son has been left devastated by the death of his pet dog. Source: ABC7
Mr Coiner's son has been left devastated by the death of his pet dog. Source: ABC7

Son’s devastation after losing best friend

In a series of Facebook posts, Mr Coiner detailed the heartbreak his young son was going through.

“My son has been calling for his best friend Clide all day long,” he said, sharing a montage of several pictures of Clide and his son.

“My heart breaks again every day without him,” he wrote in a later post.

“He was his buddy and we lost a family member,” Mr Coiner told Fox 16.

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