WPBN: In relation to the shooting death of a police K9 canine in South Carolina last month, three teens and a mother have been prosecuted.
At a news conference, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said that it had detained two minors, aged 13 and 16, whose identities were withheld because of their age, as well as a 17-year-old who authorities named as Damian Brown and who would face adult charges.
According to video from a news conference that WIS-TV was able to get, Shameka Williams, 34, the mother of the 13-year-old, was also taken into custody and charged with accessory after the fact to a felony.
“[We’ve] just got too many young people that are just running the streets at all time of the night, going into cars, stealing cars, getting into chases — just continuously breaking the law. And the question I get asked a lot is: ‘Where are the parents?’” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott stated.
“Unfortunately what … we’ve seen too much is that we just have someone who just [doesn’t] care,” he stated. “And if they’re not going to hold their kids accountable, the young people accountable, then we will hold these parents accountable.”
According to the police, their K9, Bumi, passed away on Monday, December 23, after being dispatched on a mission with his handler, Ware, to track down criminals who “fled from a stolen vehicle.” It was during the mission that Bumi was “struck multiple times and killed.” Shots were heard throughout the mission.
Teenage suspects were the ones who fired guns at law enforcement officers, and they described the shots as “very fatal.” Police officers transported Bumi to the veterinarian “to see what we could do,” but the dog was ultimately pronounced dead, and two bullets were found “inside his chest.” He stated that the officers took Bumi to the veterinarian.
“Bumi did have a vest on, a ballistic vest, but it doesn’t cover up underneath,” Lott stated during a Dec. 30 press conference. “There’s a certain spot and unfortunately that’s where the 13-year-old shot him, was there.”
According to Lott, the juvenile, who was only 13 years old at the time, entered a guilty plea in family court to a number of crimes, including the murder of a police dog, assault and battery in the first degree (in connection with shooting at officers), and possession of a weapon by a person under the age of 18. A guilty plea was entered by the 16-year-old for obstruction.
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Brown, on the other hand, was not allowed to post bond and was charged with a number of offenses, including grand larceny, accessory before the fact, possession of a weapon under the age of 18, and unauthorized carry, according to the police.
After Bumi passed away, the police released a video of his funeral, which featured a procession of police cars and a special homage from officers, including Ware, who was the K9’s handler.
An American flag was draped over the canine’s body, which served as a visual representation of the fact that he had died while performing his duties.
“K-9 Bumi and his handler K-9 Specialist Ware had a bond like no other. We will miss you K-9 Bumi, you will never be forgotten,” the department captioned the video.
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