NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk woman says she watched her dog take her last breath after a police officer entered her apartment by mistake and opened fire.
Alizana Cummings says she was at the pool at her apartment complex, Renew Little Creek, off Military Highway when she saw police vehicles arrive. She returned home, where a neighbor met her with devastating news.
"My neighbor, he ran downstairs and he told me, he said, 'Hey man, they shot your dog,'" Cummings recalled.
While at the complex pool, she had left behind her two dogs — three-year-old Stormi and seven-month-old Cashmere. Cummings says her neighbor told her police had shot Stormi.
"Stormi. That was my baby," Cummings said. "She loved belly rubs, she loved whipped cream."
"Stormi was laying on my chest before we left and I said, 'Storm Storm, we're gonna be right back,'" Cummings said.
According to a statement from the Norfolk Police Department to News 3, officers were called to Crescent Way on Sunday afternoon for a man who accidentally shot himself. The statement added:
"While on scene conducting their investigation, responding officers encountered a vicious animal, and an officer discharged their service weapon in the direction of the vicious animal as it was approaching. The dog was pronounced deceased. No other injuries were reported during this incident."
Cummings said police on scene did not allow Cummings through to her apartment. She and her girlfriend entered through a back door, and Cummings went through to the front door.
"I opened the door and peeped around the corner. I saw Stormy just laying right there by the stairwell. She was breathing so hard and she was looking at me and I just fell to my knees," Cummings said.
She says she watched Stormi take her last breath — and that officers threatened to handcuff her as she tried to reach her dog, telling her it was a police scene.
"They were telling me that if I went by her and didn't calm down that they were gonna put me in handcuffs," Cummings said. "That was my life. That was my baby."
Cummings says the assistant chief on scene told her the officer who shot Stormi had opened her door by mistake.
"It was the officer's fault. He had the wrong apartment," Cummings said, adding that self-inflicted gunshot wound incident had happened on the third floor while her unit is on the first floor.
Police radio audio appears to support that account.
"(Unit) 304 was where the gunshot victim was. Apartment 102 has an open door and that's where the dog is at," a dispatcher can be heard saying on Broadcastify.
News 3 asked Norfolk Police if they could confirm that the officer entered the wrong apartment. They responded with a statement similar to the original — but this time, the word "vicious" was removed:
"While on scene for this incident, an officer discharged their service weapon one time in the direction of an animal as it was approaching. The animal, a dog, was pronounced deceased. No other injuries were reported during this incident.
The Officer involved has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of this ongoing investigation."
Police say that's all they're able to share right now and will release updates when they're available.
Cummings says she has contacted a lawyer while she waits for more information. She is also waiting to receive Stormi's ashes. She says condolences from neighbors and friends have provided some comfort — as has knowing she was the last thing Stormi saw.
"Before she took her last breath and went to heaven, her mama fought for her. She knows that her mama fought for her," Cummings said. "I just want to tell everybody please hug your babies tight."
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