Dec 4, 2012
A North Side family is furious over what they claim was an unjustified police shooting of their 7-month-old miniature bull terrier, Colonel Phillips, known to the neighborhood as "The Colonel."
Residents are also upset, not just because police shot a puppy they all knew, but also because the shooting occurred not far from a preschool, on a street where pedestrians including children could have been hurt.
The dog's father was a champion show dog and his owners hoped he would one day be a show dog himself.
"They look like Spuds Mckenzie. You've seen the Target ad? One of those, but they're miniatures," owner Al Phillips says of the breed.
But on Saturday afternoon, the
Colonel became a target himself. He was shot by a Chicago Police officer in front of his owner's gated, North Side home. Police were writing a parking ticket for a van belonging to Al Phillips, so Phillips came out to move the vehicle.
"My little bull terrier followed me out," Phillips explains. "Then, all I hear is boom! Boom! Two shots. You shot the dog!"