The police officer removed from duty after shooting and killing a baby donkey during a search for a missing child has said that Heehaw ‘charged’ at the officers.
Officer Trenton Garner, 24, has been thrust into the international spotlight after he shot and killed Heehaw on Saturday evening in Cedartown, Georgia.
Officer Garner had been called to assist a bloodhound team which was looking for the missing girl, and wrote in the incident report that he and the other officers had followed footprints towards the pasture.
The footprints took the search party to Elsberry Riding and Farm, where Heehaw the donkey lived.
The officers entered the pasture because of the ‘exigency of locating this missing juvenile’. A K-9 handler in the group noticed Heehaw, who he said charged at the group.
The handler attempted to tase Heehaw, and when that failed, Garner drew his firearm and shot the baby donkey.
After that, a K-9 handler said he saw a donkey before the animal ‘began to charge at us,’ Garner recalled.
In the incident report, Garner said he discharged his weapon to ‘protect himself, the K-9 officer and the team of bloodhounds’.
Heehaw’s owner, Hannah Israel, said: ‘We are heartbroken. He was my son. ‘HeeHaw was raised in the house and did petting zoos; he never knew a stranger.
‘He was shot and killed in his own pasture for doing what donkeys do. Alerting to a stranger.’
The missing child was later found at a church near the pasture where Heehaw lived.
Police have turned the investigation over to the Georgia Department of Agriculture Law Enforcement for an independent investigation and put Garner on paid leave.
The sheriff’s office issued a statement reading: ‘We extend our sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected by this unfortunate incident.
‘We understand the concern and sadness surrounding what occurred.’
Cedartown Police Chief Newsome said: ‘It is with a heavy heart that I report a Cedartown police officer shot and killed a donkey that was in its own pasture.
‘I cannot imagine the grief and frustration that the tragic loss of Hee Haw has caused, but I want our community to know what we are doing now.
‘I ask everyone to join us in prayer for everyone who has been impacted by this tragic event but give time for the investigation to be completed.’
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