The District Attorney’s Office charged a Twentynine Palms man in the shooting death of a dog in July in the unincorporated area of Twentynine Palms. According to the Sheriff’s Department, a neighbor in the 2700 block of Sunrise Road heard gunshots, and then the sound of a dog whimpering, about 7 p.m. July 29. The neighbor found a black lab named Linda that had been shot. The neighbor went to the nearby home of James Knapp, 59, who said he had shot at the lab and two other dogs, trying to scare them away from his fence. The report states when deputies contacted Knapp about the shooting, he told them he had seen the dogs outside his fence, thought they were coyotes, and shot at them to scare them away, but accidentally hit Linda and killed her. Linda’s collar only had a rabies tag, and it was nearly two weeks before Sandra Gannon learned her dog, who had run off during a thunderstorm, had been shot. Gannon pressed the Sheriff’s Department to continue to investigate the shooting, and detectives later determined that the shooting was not accidental. Detectives forwarded the information to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office for review, and on Monday the DA’s office filed a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty causing death on James Knapp for the shooting death of the dog.
https://www.facebook.com/JusticeforLinda
TWENTYNINE PALMS MAN CHARGED AFTER DOG IS SHOT AND KILLED
