Flin Flon man claims dog was shot ‘for no reason’ by RCMP officer

A Flin Flon man is outraged after he says the RCMP came to his apartment building and shot his dog to death.

Josh Nickerson, 21, said he was home Sunday afternoon when RCMP came to his door.

“It was 3:30 yesterday. Broad daylight,” said Nickerson.

Nickerson had been told earlier that day by his landlord, Mike Barkett, that RCMP officers would be coming by the building to ask questions of his friend, who lives in the apartment above him.

When two RCMP officers came up the sidewalk, Nickerson said his friend went to answer the door, holding back his German shepherd-Husky cross named Cheech.

As the door opened and his friend stood there with Cheech, Nickerson said he was coming into the living room when he heard the officer yelling: “Do you want to keep your dog? Do you want to keep your dog?”

Nickerson claims “not even two seconds later,” the officer shot Cheech.

“For no reason. He didn’t even give her a chance,” he added.

View image in full screen

Nickerson said his friend let go of Cheech when the officer raised his gun but claims the dog wasn’t out the door before she was shot.

“She took a couple of steps outside and just dropped,” after being shot, alleges Nickerson.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

At that point, Nickerson doesn’t remember much.

“I was in shock; I kind of blacked out. I just lost it on the officer,” he said.

The officer left the scene, leaving his partner to deal with Cheech’s body, according to Nickerson.

“She was basically my kid,” he said. “No apology — nothing.”

Nickerson and several of his friends went down to the Flin Flon RCMP office to make statements. In the meantime, Nickerson is dealing with plans to cremate his dog and talk to lawyers.

Both Nickerson and Barkett told Global News the officers were actually in Nickerson’s apartment the day before looking for someone who wasn’t there.

Barkett claimed the officers entered Nickerson’s apartment without announcing themselves.

“That’s harassment and intimidation, right there,” said Barkett.

“I have no idea why they went to [Nickerson’s apartment]. They weren’t supposed to be there.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I have no idea why they went to [Nickerson's apartment]. They weren't supposed to be there."

Barkett claims he told RCMP officers in which unit they could find the person they were looking for.

RCMP, however, said they weren’t sure which unit they were looking for.

RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel confirmed two officers were at the apartments on Hill Street in Flin Flon.

The following is the RCMP’s statement:

“Police were looking for a particular suspect, but did not have a unit number for him, so they knocked at the door of the main floor apartment hoping to ascertain from the residents what unit the suspect lived in,” she wrote in a statement to Global News.

“The front door to the apartment opened, and the male who opened the door then walked away back into the apartment. A large dog exited the residence through the open door and began growling and barking at the officers.

“One officer asked for someone to take control of the dog. Nobody came to the door or called for the dog. No efforts were made to restrain the dog. As the officers were slowly walking backward trying to extricate themselves from the dangerous situation, the request was again made for someone to take control of the dog. Nobody came.

“At this point, the dog made gestures of aggression toward one of the officers as if he was going to bite him. The officer felt the dog was a definite threat and continued to move backward slowly away from the animal.

“At this time, the officer unholstered his firearm and again asked for someone to take control of the dog. Nobody came.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "At this time, the officer unholstered his firearm and again asked for someone to take control of the dog. Nobody came.

“The dog suddenly lunged at the officer at which point the officer fired one shot, which immediately killed the dog.

“At no point did the officers enter the residence. The dog was killed outside the residence with no civilians present. Immediately after the incident, the officer removed himself from the scene and other officers attended to the residence to continue with the investigation.

View image in full screen

“The remains of the dog were secured pending the outcome of the investigation. An officer who was not present at the scene has taken statements from everyone involved.

“The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has been notified and advised they will follow the RCMP investigation and take a discretionary monitoring role as the investigation unfolds.”

-With files from Abigail Turner and Brittany Greenslade