A South Fulton man and his two dogs are back home after a Fairburn police officer shot all three during an encounter early Thursday morning.
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is now looking into the shooting, which happened after Fairburn officers responded to a call about a woman experiencing a mental health episode shortly after midnight.
Home surveillance video captured the moments before the shooting. In the video, a flashlight can be seen approaching the home before three gunshots ring out. Moments later, someone can be heard yelling, “You just shot my dog. They don’t bite.”
According to the GBI, officers were led to a home on Bishop Road where the woman had been staying with relatives. Investigators said two dogs charged at officers, prompting an officer to fire his weapon.
The officer struck both dogs and accidentally shot their owner, Dustin Lackey, in the ankle.
“We had no knowledge of them being on the property,” Dustin Lackey told Channel 2 Action News. “They knocked so hard on my door, my door just popped open.”
DustinLackey said that after the door opened, Zeus, a German shepherd, and Copper, a pit bull, ran outside. He said he was trying to grab the dogs when an officer opened fire.
“They were doing their job,” Lackey said about the dogs. “We had no knowledge of police.”
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Channel 2 Action News was there when the family returned home Thursday afternoon. Both dogs were bandaged and recovering from their injuries.
The family said Copper was shot through the nose and still has a bullet lodged in his throat. Zeus was shot in the chest and leg. Dustin Lackey suffered a gunshot wound to his ankle.
The Lackeys said their four children were inside the home when the shooting happened and believe the gunfire put their family at risk.
“They shot inside my house. They shot my A/C unit that’s in that window. They shot into it,” Dustin Lackey said.
“All those bullets on the ground could have been in my kids,” added his wife, Kelsy Lackey.
Fairburn police declined to comment on the shooting, citing the ongoing GBI investigation.
The agency confirmed the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.
The family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for medical and veterinary expenses.
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