The Pokagon Band Tribal Police officer who shot and killed a deer in Van Buren County is no longer deputized.
Officials confirmed that the officer will no longer have any authority working with the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office, and will now only have the authority to enforce laws on tribal land.
The incident on Friday sparked outrage in the town of Lawrence, as the officer was filmed forcing a deer to the ground and then shooting it in the neck. It happened after tribal police were assisting county law enforcement in serving an unrelated arrest warrant.
Neighbors say they knew the deer as “Annie,” and while they say she was a wild deer, they say she was remarkably friendly to people, and was loved throughout the area.
“It was amazing. It was one of the most coolest things we’d ever seen. She let us pet her. She let my three-year-old pet her, and, you know, she kind of wandered around our yard, but she always came back to see us. She did no harm,” said Amanda Beck, a resident.
Community members have formed the online group “Justice for Annie,” and have been sharing memories along with voicing concern over how law enforcement handled the incident. A neighbor who witnessed the incident says the officer shot the deer in front of the family who originally found her when she was injured, and provided her aid.
“You’ve not only traumatized everybody in the family who watched it happen 10 feet from them, but what could have happened with you firing that firearm 10 feet from a house, 10-foot from a busy highway?” questioned neighbor Theresa Braswell.
Hellbound and Down 