Family dog shot, killed at Northampton County business charged at trooper

RICH SQUARE, N.C. — Surveillance video showed a state trooper fatally shooting a dog at a Northampton County business on Friday night.

The business owner said he believes the shooting wasn’t justified and the dog didn’t pose a threat. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol is standing by the trooper involved.

Rodney Majette owns the R&P car dealership on South Main Street in Rich Square. His sister was at the business with her dog Coco, a 1-year-old pit bull. Around 8 p.m., a state trooper pulled up out front, and Majette’s sister went out to meet him.

“And when she opened the door, she just shot past her because she didn’t know if she was going home or just going outside to play,” Majette said.

Coco took off toward the trooper. The dealership’s surveillance camera started rolling just as the dog got to the trooper’s car. You can’t see the dog on camera, but the video shows the trooper back up several steps into the road, before shooting the dog one time, killing it.

“From a puppy,” said Majette. “He felt threatened and he just shot her.”

Majette said he doesn’t understand why the trooper was on the business’s property, or why he shot the dog. He believes the trooper reacted with lethal force too quickly because the dog was a pit bull.

“It’s just been a rough weekend, that’s all, trying to get over it. It’s just like we lost a family member,” Majette said.

WRAL News took the family’s concerns to the state highway patrol.

“There was the belief that the vehicle involved in a hit-and-run investigation was at this location, which we did find that vehicle to be at the location,” said State Highway Patrol public information officer Chris Knox.

Highway patrol said the trooper was at the business legally to investigate a crime, and the trooper is still on active duty after an internal review found he acted appropriately during the shooting.

“A pit bull running at full steam, aggressively charging at the member and barking,” Knox said. “The member, you could see him backtracking in the video, to a point where he backtracks onto a side street. he is now on the road and put himself in danger.”

The Majette family said they don’t know anything about a hit-and-run investigation at the business. They’re contacting animal welfare groups to see what action they can take after this incident.

“For shooting our dog on our own private property, we’re reaching out to anybody and everyone,” Majette said.