Newly released body-camera video shows a Georgia police officer shooting a family’s pet miniature donkey in its own fenced pasture, and when another officer asked why he fired, he can be heard saying, “I don’t know.”
Story Snapshot
- Cedartown, Georgia, police officer Trenton Garner shot HeeHaw, a 1-year-old miniature donkey, while officers searched a pasture for a missing 12-year-old girl.
- Garner’s written report says the donkey charged at him and a K-9 handler, and that a Taser did not stop it.
- On the video, when another officer asks why he shot, Garner answers, “I don’t know.”
- The donkey’s owner, Hannah Israel, is suing Garner in federal court, and the footage came out as part of that case.
The Officer Says the Donkey Charged
Garner’s own report gives his reason for the shooting. He wrote that he and K-9 teams from several agencies were searching a hill when horses in the pasture got spooked and ran. “The donkey then began to charge at us,” he wrote. A K-9 handler used a Taser on the animal, and Garner says the donkey kept coming. He then drew his department-issued handgun and fired one shot. HeeHaw went back up the hill and collapsed. Garner told a supervisor and dispatchers he fired to keep the K-9 handler and the bloodhound team from getting hurt.
The body-camera video was released on Friday, October 9, more than five weeks after the shooting in the early hours of Sunday, August 30. It runs a little over six minutes, and the shot comes within the first 30 seconds. On the tape, Garner says, “I thought the donkey was gonna kill me.” Moments later, when another officer asks whether the donkey was hit and why he shot it, Garner answers, “I don’t know.”
The missing girl was found safe shortly after the donkey was killed, near the pasture, according to the police chief.
A Family Pet on Private Land
HeeHaw lived at Elsberry Riding & Farm on Grady Road in Cedartown, where Israel and her family raised him as a household pet. Israel bottle-raised him and took him to local petting zoos. “Heehaw thought people were his family, and Heehaw was family,” she said. She says officers came into her pasture around 12:45 a.m. without asking her or warning her, and that her family needed up to 20 minutes to find his body afterward.
Israel pushed for the video to be made public. Her attorney, Chris McCorkle, says his side did not release it. He says Garner’s attorney released it as part of an effort to get the case thrown out. “We did not release the video, and we don’t condone any sort of abusive behavior toward the officer,” McCorkle said.
The Federal Lawsuit
Israel filed her lawsuit on Friday, September 11, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. It is a federal civil-rights case, meaning she claims a government officer violated her rights under the U.S. Constitution. The suit says officers entered her enclosed pasture without her permission, without a warrant and without an emergency that would allow it. It also says the shooting was an unreasonable seizure and destruction of her property, and that she was denied due process, meaning fair legal steps before the government takes what is hers.
The complaint describes HeeHaw as “tranquil” and says he “posed no threat.” It says “no reasonable officer” in Garner’s place would have believed shooting the donkey was necessary. The suit names Garner himself and seeks to hold him personally responsible. Israel is asking for damages to repay her loss, extra damages meant to punish, her legal costs and a jury trial. The complaint does not name a dollar amount. Garner has not been charged with any crime, and the court has not ruled on the claims.
Officer on Leave as the State Investigates
Cedartown police placed Garner on administrative leave, which means he is off the job while the case is reviewed. Police Chief Jamie Newsome turned the case over to the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Law Enforcement Division, an outside state agency. “I want a state agency with expertise to handle this that is not from here to get it right,” Newsome said.
The city has said it will not release more information while that investigation is open. The state agency has not announced any findings. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has said its agency was not involved in the shooting and offered its “sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected by this unfortunate incident.”
For many families who keep animals on their own land, the case comes down to two plain points: whether officers had the right to be in that pasture, and whether the shot was needed. A federal judge and the state investigators now have the video in front of them.
Sources:
wsbtv.com, newsweek.com, coptalklive.org, foxnews.com, ktvb.com, cleveland.com, fox5atlanta.com