At 10:22 on the night of June 21, 2026, a Bessemer police officer pulled over a car near the corner of 22nd Street South and Arlington Avenue. The reason for the stop, according to the department, was a stop sign the driver had run. A dog was riding in the back. One of the car's back windows was open.
The Bessemer Police Department has released only a preliminary account, and it is the only account of the shooting that has been published. According to that account, while the officer was speaking with the driver, a large dog got out of the vehicle through the open back window and moved toward him. The officer reported that the dog was snapping at his legs as he attempted to retreat. The officer then discharged his duty weapon, striking and killing the dog. Police said a nearby witness interviewed at the scene also reported seeing the dog get out of the vehicle and move toward the officer. Three shell casings were recovered. No officers or other people were injured.
The dog has no name in the public record. The department described it as "a large dog." No age, no breed, no name appears anywhere in what has been released — the animal is identified in the official account only by its size and by the direction it was moving. WBRC, which reported the shooting the next day, published a photograph of the dog and headlined its broadcast segment around the owner's claim; the owner's own description of what happened that night has not been made public.
What the department has said about the owner is this, from its press release: "We recognize that the loss of a pet is traumatic and deeply upsetting, and we understand the owner's grief following this incident."
The review
The department's preliminary framing is that the dog was advancing toward the officer, who perceived it as an immediate threat when he fired. The department also said it is reviewing the complete circumstances of the incident, including the officer's actions, witness statements, physical evidence, and any available video recordings — a phrase that leaves open whether the encounter was recorded at all. Nothing in the department's statement says whether the officer was wearing a body camera, or whether footage exists to test the preliminary account against.
The officer has not been publicly named. He remains on regular duty while the department completes its review, and as of WBRC's June 22 report no final determination regarding his actions had been made.
That is the accountability record so far: an account supplied by the agency that employs the officer, a review conducted by the agency that employs the officer, and no change to the officer's assignment while it happens. Three rounds were fired during a traffic stop begun over a stop sign. The only casualty anyone has confirmed is a dog whose name the public still does not know.