Police Shoot, Kill Dog During Arrest Of Owner [GRAPHIC VIDEO]

A video of police shooting a dog to death has gone viral after it was posted to the internet earlier this week. Leon Rosby, the dog's owner, was arrested for obstructing justice after taking video of police with his smartphone as they barricaded a house in Hawthorne, CA. Rosby's young Rottweiler was shot and killed when it escaped from the vehicle to come to his aid during the arrest.

Police were surrounding a home that a gunman had robbed two people inside. According to reports, Rosby stopped in the intersection with his music blaring loudly. Officers asked him to lower his volume so they could hear what was going on down the street. Rosby did not comply.

It's distracting the officers," Swain said. "It's interfering with what they are able to hear. It's not just a party call. It's an armed robbery call. The officers need to hear what's going on with the people being called out of the residence. That music in his car is bleeding over and it's distracting them.

Rosby, like many others pulled out his smartphone to film, while Usher's 'Love In This Club' continued to play loudly, looping over and over again. Once police arrested the suspected robber, they motioned toward Rosby with the intent to arrest him, telling him to put his dog in the car.

Before voluntarily putting his hand behind his back to be detained, Rosby is seen putting his 2-year-old Rottweiler back inside of his car, just as the police had instructed him to. After seeing the officers putting it's owner in cuffs, the dog begins to bark and become restless inside the vehicle. It is then seen jumping from inside the car to help it's master when it is shot four times by police. The dog then writhes in pain until it eventually dies in the street in plain sight of a horrified onlooking crowd.

It looks like the officer tried to reach down and grab the leash, and then the dog lunges in the direction of him and the other officers there," said Hawthorne police Lt. Scott Swain. "And I know it's the dog's master, and more than likely not going to attack him, (but) we've got a guy handcuffed that's kind of defenseless. We have a duty to defend him, too.

WARNING -- VIDEO CONTAINS VERY GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, NSFW

Rosby spent the night in jail on suspicion of obstruction and was released at 5 a.m. the next morning. His attorney, Michael Gulden, says that his client plans to file a lawsuit against the Hawthorne Police Department because he feels they needlessly killed his dog as you will see him explain in the video below.

The Hawthorne Police Department has released this official statement.

Do you think the dog was unfairly killed, or was it necessary for police safety?

[via HuffPo/DailyBreeze]