The Erie police officer who shot and killed a dog Tuesday night killed another dog in 2007 after that animal attacked and seriously injured a boy.

The Camera reported in 2007 that Officer Jamie Chester responded to report of a 9-year-old boy who had been attacked by the family’s black Labrador retriever. Chester cornered the dog and asked for a pole to catch the dog, but he ended up shooting the dog twice when it turned on him, police said at the time. He then fired a third shot to put the dog down.

The boy made a full recovery, but required facial reconstructive surgery.

Erie police Lt. Lee Mathis confirmed that Chester was involved in both Tuesday’s shooting and the 2007 incident.

Brittany Moore, the Erie woman whose dog was killed Tuesday night, disputed the Erie Police Department’s account of the incident, saying her pet did not attack Chester and was actually turning away from him in response to her command when the officer fired.

Brittany Moore said Ava, her 4-year-old German shepherd, was a gentle family dog who was beloved by her three daughters, ages 5, 6, and 8.

“The whole neighborhood knows my dog,” she said. “All the kids play with her. She is not a vicious dog at all.”

Moore said she called police Tuesday night because her boyfriend’s ex-wife was making harassing phone calls and threatening to come to the house.

In new details about the incident revealed Wednesday, Mathis said the officer initially went to the wrong house at 443 Conrad Drive.

When Chester started walking toward the correct house at 437 Conrad, Mathis said, the German shepherd emerged from the front yard and started coming toward the officer.

“The dog was baring its teeth, and the hair on the back of its neck was up, and it lunged at him, and that’s when he shot,” Mathis said.

Moore said her dog did not lunge at the officer and was just walking up to him. Moore said the officer was coming through a side yard, which she thought was strange because officers have usually come to the front door when she has summoned police in the past.

Moore said the officer put his hand on his gun and quickly backed away from the dog.

Moore said she called to her dog, and the dog was turning toward her when the officer fired. She immediately started screaming, “Oh my God, what did you do?”

She said the officer said, “Ma’am, I had to do it.”

Moore took her dog to Colorado State University for a necropsy Wednesday, and she said the results indicate the bullet entered through the dog’s back and severed its spinal column. Moore said she was told the entry wound was inconsistent with the dog lunging.

“He shot my German shepherd because he was scared,” she said.

Mathis said the department will conduct an internal investigation of the officer’s decision to fire his weapon.

“This is certainly not something we intend to have happen, and we hate it when it does, but we don’t require an officer to be bit before he takes action to protect himself,” Mathis said.

Her voice cracking, Moore said she wants “justice” for her dog, but she doesn’t know what that would look like.

She said she is “leery” now of the police and worries about an officer who would be so quick to fire his weapon.

“Do you want an officer on the force who, when they get scared, they crack and pull their gun?” she asked.

