Video captured the moments after Los Angeles police fatally shot a dog that was wearing a New York Knicks jersey as officers were responding to calls of a screaming woman — screaming that turned out to be a celebration of the Knicks’ winning the NBA championship.
Shortly after the Knicks won the NBA Finals on Saturday, Los Angeles police officers shot and killed the dog while they were responding to an unrelated incident, the police department said in a news release Tuesday.
The police department said it was responding to a radio call about a “screaming woman” in Canoga Park, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
When the person reporting the screaming directed officers to an apartment unit, a resident opened the door to the responding officers, the police department said. Beside her was what it described as a “large dog” barking at officers.
“The officers asked her to secure the dog, and the resident closed her door momentarily. She re-opened the door, and the dog exited the apartment,” the release says. “Once outside of the apartment, the dog charged at one of the officers, resulting in an Officer-Involved Shooting (OIS).”
The Los Angeles Animal Services Department took custody of the dead dog, the police said. The owner was at that scene and cooperated with the investigation, according to the release.
The dog was a 2-year-old St. Bernard-golden retriever-poodle mix named Jameson, according to its owner, Marie Marseille.
A video that has been seen more than 15 million times on TikTok shows Marseille on the floor, lying over the dead dog wearing a blue and orange T-shirt.
“The Knicks just won the championship,” she wails. “We were just so happy. We just celebrating the Knicks.”
About half a dozen officers are seen in the video standing by the grieving woman.
“This is absolutely crazy,” Marseille says. “We didn’t do anything.”
People off-camera are heard yelling at the officers.
“This is f---ing pathetic when there’s drug dealers, people stabbing each other outside,” someone shouts.
Marseille, 45, a longtime Knicks fan who is originally from Rockland County, New York, said she was shouting because she was celebrating the Knicks’ winning.
“I started screaming. I was like: ‘The Knicks are champions! The Knicks just won!’” she said. “It was so euphoric.”
The Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs in the Game 5 on Saturday, delivering New York its first NBA championship in 53 years.
Marseille, a nurse, said that she could not remember whether Jameson barked but that he “generally does not bark when there’s a knock or a ring at the door.”
She said that when she tried to push Jameson back to speak to the officers, Jameson sneaked past her legs and ran outside. Within seconds, she said, she saw Jameson get shot twice. She said he was breathing for a few seconds before he passed away.
“I just don’t understand. I don’t understand it. I don’t get it,” she said through tears. “He wasn’t doing anything. He didn’t do anything. I know he didn’t. I know he didn’t.”
Marseille repeatedly said Jameson has “never once” shown aggression toward anyone.
A GoFundMe campaign for the dog’s cremation fees had raised more than $117,000 as of Tuesday.
“Jameson was 2 years old, and he was taken from us too soon,” the GoFundMe page reads. “Anyone who’s met Jameson would tell you he is the sweetest boy in the world.”
Marseille said she plans to donate some of the money or start a nonprofit organization in Jameson’s name. She added that she hopes Jameson’s death will lead to reform within the police department.
“This could have been prevented. I really truly believe it could have been,” she said. “Why is the gun the first option? I don’t get it.”
