Clifton Police Detective Accidentally Shot In Bloomfield Pit Bull IncidentA Clifton Police detective accidentally shot himself after a pit-bull charged at him in the Township of Bloomfield.

Yesterday, at 3:40 p.m. two Clifton Police detectives were investigating an incident that occurred in Clifton and led them to the 100 block of Harrison Street in Bloomfield.

As the detectives knocked on the door of the location an occupant open the door of the house when a pit-bill ran out of the house and charged at the detectives . One of the detectives (a 16 year veteran of the Clifton P.D.) fired one shot from his service weapon striking his hand and the pit-bull. The detective was rushed to a nearby hospital and is presently listed in stable condition.

The second detective(a veteran also) was not injured and did not fire his weapon. The dog was injured, removed by animal control and rendered aid.

The investigation is being handled by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Professional Standards Bureau and the Clifton Police Internal Affairs.

18 replies on “Clifton Police Detective Accidentally Shot In Bloomfield Pit Bull Incident”

  1. Uh oh. Are we going to play the pit bull drinking game today? Every mention of Memphis, a shelter, or of “pit bull” not being a breed, gets a drink. Every mention of the Bloomfield Health Department gets a drink, but jc has to drink twice if he’s mean to karen or pat. Any rules I missed?

    (My good wishes to the detective and the dog for speedy recoveries.)

  2. So the dog ran at the officer ? What an unusual behavior from a dog – NOT ! 16 year vet huh Clifton PD ? My 15 month old nephew wouldn’t have been as scared.

  3. Police officers MUST get better training in how to respond to dog behavior. Pulling out a gun is dangerous to the officer, to the civilians, and of course, the dog, which may or may not have been aggressive if its behavior was misread. (My dog will “charge” at anyone in hopes of having her ears scratched).

  4. Actually, I’m good with the officers using guns on pit bulls. My dog wouldn’t lunge or act in a threatening manner. Owning a pitbull should should not be allowed in the most densely populated state in the country unless you have a farm up in Sussex County. It should require some kind of exotic dangerous animal license and it should be cost prohibitive. Children shouldn’t have to worry about being mauled on their bike, in the yard or in their living room. Enough.

  6. There have been several different versions of this story. One says the officer was bitten, but others just say the dog “charged” (which is a subjective account of the behavior). I have also seen a post on Facebook that a person who spoke directly to the dog’s owner said the dog did not “charge,” but ran over to sniff at the officer. I do not know the true story. What I do know is that I read about many many incidents like this – not all with pit bulls (one involved a friendly Labrador that was shot in his OWN CAR by a sheriff’s officer that panicked when he saw the dog) – and in most cases if the officer involved had understood dog behavior better, a tragedy might have been averted. In one incident I read about, the officer in question shot a child (thankfully the child was OK) when shooting at a dog and missing. Why is it preposterous to ask that officers be trained in dog behavior? And let’s not get into the whole “people shouldn’t have pit bulls” argument. Pit bulls are just dogs.

  8. As for the dog, the owner had him put down because he couldn’t afford to pay for the medical care to save him. All just to serve a warrant?

  9. nonfatwithwhip,
    I have issues with you owning a dog. You seem to gravitate towards stereotypes. I understand the State of Colorado is very much like that.

  10. Frank, my opinions are well informed, and I have way too much experience with pit bulls for you to dismiss my stance as adherence to stereotype hysteria. Lots of sociopaths in NJ though. Me, I want the children to be safe. I like civility and peace and safety. Your comment about Colorado is bizarrely irrelevant. I think I have an issue with you wanting to liberate me of my rights. You sound irrational.

  11. I’m all for the children being safe, but since there are none mentioned in this story, and there is no history of aggressive behavior from the dog being reported now or in the past – the for the children argument is lame.

    You know what else is dangerous for children – people with guns who can’t handle them, as seems to be the case here.

  12. What police officers really should be trained in is dealing with lewd male masturbating cats.

  14. Thanks pete!

    mimi I hadn’t seen where the owner had the dog euthanized – are you sure – one of my friends was working on getting the Lexus Project to represent the dog.

    I have pointers and they protect their/our yard – are officers from another county usually allowed to serve warrants in another county/town. I thought they used the police department in the town where the warrant was to be served. Are they allowed to tresspass on your property ? And then wound your family members? What if the officer had been charged by a 3 year old with a stick – who was showing his teethand stating that he was going to bite him- would that justify major use of force.

    How did thr officer manage to shoot his own hand? Did he have hos hand on the pit bull when he shot it?

    What does the breed of the dog have to do with any of this? Is there a breed called Pit Bull or are they any dogs that might have some bulldog or staffshire terrier in them?

  16. What if the officer had been charged by a 3 year old with a stick – who was showing his teethand stating that he was going to bite him- would that justify major use of force.

    My gosh some of you people are loopy.

  17. Pat, will PM you about the information about the dog being put down. Mike 91, sure, comparing it to a child is an exaggeration, but the recent chokehold incident on Staten Island just goes to show that often police officers use more force than is needed – both with people AND animals. More needs to be done to prevent this kind of incident before more people and pets are hurt or killed.

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