City officer shoots, kills attacking dog

A Tucumcari police officer shot and killed a dog Thursday on the city’s north side after it attacked him, according to a fellow officer’s report and the police chief.

The officers had received reports Thursday and the previous day of loose dogs in that area attacking an elderly man.

According to TPD Chief Patti Lopez, Ordella Jaynes was issued two citations for an animal at large and a vicious animal, plus a criminal summons.

According to a police report written by TPD Cpl. Matthew Lopez (no relation to the chief), he and fellow officer Jesse Ray were sent to the 600 block of North First Street to check on an animal problem.

Officers met with Annabell Blea in the area to talk about the problem. Blea told officers a man she takes care of, identified as 80-year-old Teodoro Chavez, was surrounded by a pack of dogs, and another person was hitting the animals with a shovel to try to drive them away.

“Anna said this was not the first time these pack of dogs were out of their yard trying to attack someone or even her,” Lopez wrote.

Lopez told Ray he met with an unidentified woman earlier that day about a large pack of loose dogs roaming in the area that were “vicious to citizens.” He added the dogs belonged to a neighborhood woman “that are always out of the fence.”

He told Ray to go to the woman’s door and speak with her about the dogs. Lopez directed Ray to the side of the house with gate access.

Lopez told Ray to be cautious with a gold and white dog in the area because it had been “following me in an aggressive manner by growling and lunging towards me.”

Lopez wrote that moments later, he heard a loud shot in Ray’s direction. After Lopez arrived, he saw Ray had his Taser unholstered and that Ray said the dog had attacked him.

Lopez told Ray to return to the patrol vehicle while he secured the scene and called additional police supervisors. Upon later questioning, Ray confirmed he shot the dog with his handgun.

TPD Chief Patti Lopez said the shot dog died at the scene. She said it was a mixed-breed animal she estimated at 40 to 50 pounds.

The chief said it was the same gold and white dog that had lunged at Cpl. Lopez earlier.

Cpl. Lopez said he saw a resident sitting outside her house, identified as Tammy Gutierrez, and asked her if she had problems with the dog that had been shot or whether it had tried to bite her or anyone else. She confirmed it had and added that the dog was vicious.

Lopez said Greg Garcia claimed to have witnessed the dog’s shooting. Garcia said he saw it from Northside Park, which is about two blocks away. When Lopez asked to explain what happened, Garcia responded, “I don’t know what happened,” the report stated.

Lopez wrote he found the spent shell casing from the shooting.

Police Chief Lopez said she reviewed body camera footage from the officers, and it “did pair up” with details stated in Cpl. Lopez’s report.

The chief said an officer typically undergoes an internal review when they discharge their firearm while on duty.

In a supplemental report, Cpl. Lopez said he was summoned Wednesday afternoon to the 600 block of North First Street to check on a report about a pack of dogs that attacked a man in a wheelchair.

Ray spoke to the man that was attacked, identified as Chavez, and Blea, his caretaker.

“Blea told me that when arrived at Chavez’s house, she saw about three or four dogs circling Chavez,” the report stated. “The dogs were trying to attack Chavez, and he was swinging his cane, trying to get them away.”

They identified the dogs coming from a neighbor’s house and had called police earlier that morning about them.

“When speaking with Chavez, he confirmed the dogs were aggressive and were trying to attack him,” the report stated.

Tucumcari residents have been on higher alert about loose canines since Stanley Hartt was attacked and killed by a pack of dogs in February 2023. Two people were charged and convicted in the case.