The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office released the names of the two deputies involved in an animal shooting in Atascadero on June 15.
Deputies Marc Carreiro and Jacob Henry responded to what appeared to be a burglary in progress in the 7800 block of El Camino Real when two dogs ran out of the business.
Deputy Carreiro feared the dog was about to attack and discharged his weapon, striking one of the animals.
The dog was transported to a local veterinarian and fortunately survived its injuries deemed non-life-threatening. Neither Deputy is on administrative leave.
The Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into the circumstances of this incident. And it will be followed up with an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Professional Standards Unit. No further information is available at this time.
The owner of the dogs, Junior Gonzales, described a very different story.
He said the Deputies pulled their guns on him as he was unloading cleaning supplies from his car at about 1 a.m. on June 15 in the parking lot of Fashion Cleaners, the business owned by his parents.
He said his dogs ran out of the business and were not aggressively running toward the deputies.