Arnold man faces felony charge in fatal shooting of friend's dog

An Arnold man accused of shooting his friend’s dog told police the gun he was holding went off when another dog jumped on his arm and caused the trigger to be pulled.

Lower Burrell police charged Nathan Duncan Brown, 22, of the 300 block of Murray Avenue with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals along with tampering with evidence, reckless endangerment and cruelty to animals.

Brown faces a preliminary hearing Aug. 2 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.

Officers responded to a home in the 200 block of Chester Drive in Lower Burrell shortly after 11 p.m. June 6 after the owner of the dog told police Brown shot the animal, according to a criminal complaint. The dog died.

Police said the dog’s ownerwas standing outside the home and had two firearms on the hood of his vehicle when they arrived. He gave officers consent to search the home, where they found a towel soaked with blood at the bottom of a staircase and splatters of blood on the floor and steps, the complaint said.

There also were large wet spots, police said, that indicated the area recently had been cleaned.

The man told investigators he was in the bathroom when he heard a gunshot, the complaint said. When he left the room, he saw Brown picking up a firearm and heard his dog yelping in pain, police said.

The man said the dog then fell down the steps and landed at the bottom of the staircase, where it died, according to the complaint.

Brown told his friend the dog was killed when he dropped the gun and it fired, police said. The man said Brown then called his mother who arrived with bleach and peroxide to clean up the blood.

The woman told the dog’s owner she would handle having it cremated and asked that he not notify police about the incident, according to the complaint.

But the man told police that, on 25 to 30 occasions before the shooting, Brown pointed a gun at his dog to taunt the animal, the complaint said.

He said the dead animal eventually was retrieved from Brown’s home by another friend and taken to an animal hospital for a necropsy to be performed. The result of a necropsy the forensic examination found that the dog suffered a fatal gunshot wound that entered its chest area from one side of the body and exited from the other side, the complaint said.

Police said Brown told them he had the gun in a holster inside his waistband while playing with the dog.

He said the gun got knocked from his waist, and it discharged when it struck the floor, the complaint said.

But police said Brown changed his story when they told him an accidental misfire like he described likely couldn’t happen because his gun was equipped with a device known as a back safety strap that prevents a firearm from being fired even if the trigger is pressed.

Police wrote in the complaint that the only way a gun equipped with a back safety strap can be fired is if it is gripped properly.

Brown then told police he “may have” grabbed the back safety strap as the gun was falling, but it discharged when it hit the ground, the complaint said.

When police told Brown that he previously had not mentioned the gun was in his hand, his story changed a third time, the complaint said.

He told them he was holding the unholstered weapon, and it fired when the dog jumped on him, police said.

When police interviewed Brown’s mother, she said she repeatedly told her son to call police after the dog was shot but he refused, the complaint said.

The woman told police her son was playing with the dog while he was sitting on the floor and the gun fired while he was trying to change the magazine, police said.

When investigators interviewed Brown again, he again altered his story to say he was pointing the gun downward while trying to change the ammunition when a second dog jumped on him as he racked the slide and caused the gun to fire, the complaint said.

In that interview, the complaint said, Brown insisted he did not place his finger on the trigger, saying: “My finger was not on the trigger, but my hand was on the back of the gun. She (the dog) hit it with her paw is the only thing I could imagine.”