Philadelphia – A 62-year-old man who used his legally owned gun to kill an aggressive dog on an East Germantown street gave a responding Philadelphia Police officer permission to disarm him — and as the officer grabbed the firearm from its holster, he accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting the man in the leg, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The District Attorney’s Office said it does not anticipate charging the officer, identified by police as James Edmiston, a 15-year veteran of the force assigned to the 14th District.
‘”We do not believe that what happened is criminal in nature,” said Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the office.
The incident, captured on police body cameral footage, appears to show the officer and the citizen in a cordial conversation prior to the gun owner being shot with his own weapon.
Police did not identify the man who was shot. The incident began when the man was walking his dog on a leash around the 2000 block of Chew Avenue. Two unleashed pit bulls approached his dog, and the bigger of the two began to attack his dog.
The man tried to break up the dogs, but couldn’t, so he pulled his holstered Taurus 9mm handgun and fired, killing the pit bull attacking his dog.
The man saw Officer Edmiston in a patrol car and flagged him down.
The man told the officer that he had just shot a dog, and that his gun was in his holster on his waist. The officer said that he needed to secure the man’s weapon, so the man placed his arms over his head.
Edmiston then reached for the gun. As he took it out of the holster, he accidentally pulled the trigger, striking the man in the right leg.
Edmiston drove the man to Einstein Medical Center, where he was reported in stable condition.
