Couple: "Bruce Willis" Shot by Off-Duty Officer
"Nothing can bring Bruce back"
Updated 1:02 PM EST, Thu, Jan 22, 2009
Stan Rosenblatt gets choked up talking about the last time he went to walk his beloved dog, Bruce Willis.
Stan never made it out of the lobby of his Upper Gwynned condo complex that night. Bruce was shot dead.
As Stan tells it, when he was about to go out the door with Bruce, an Akita mix, another man started to come into the building with his dog.
Bruce started barking at the other dog. Stan says he told the other dog walker not to come into the building yet, because he wasn't sure how the two dogs would get along.
But the other man -- an off-duty police officer from another state -- did open the lobby door, according to Stan.
At that point, Bruce, on a retractable leash, got outside. Stan says the next thing he heard was gunshots.
The off-duty officer pulled out his gun and shot Bruce, according to Stan, and explained he was afraid Bruce was going to attack.
The Montgomery County Prosecutor's office is trying to determine if a crime was committed. DA Risa Vetri Ferman said as a law enforcement officer, it appears the off-duty officer is permitted to carry a firearm outside of his jurisdiction. Ferman also said that whether or not it's a crime "should not minimize the significance of what happened here." Ferman told NBC10's Deanna Durante that right now it is too early to determine if charges will be filed.
First Published: Jan 21, 2009 7:50 PM EST
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