14 DAY TRIAL // A police officer in Mountain City, Tennessee, has been fired over unlawful use of his force issued weapon. He shot a squirrel inside a Dollar Store location.
According to WJHL, the incident took place on September 27, and it involved officer Jody Putnam.
Owners had called animal control, but Putnam responded to the call and tried to get rid of the squirrel.
"Through a violation of the police department policy Officer Jody Putnam's employment, as a Mountain City Police Officer, was terminated by the Board of Mayor and Alderman," Mountain City Mayor Lawrence Keeble says in a statement.
Putnam tried using his gun and shooting at the animal but, since that wouldn't stop it, he attempted to mace it. The number of shots fired has not been made public as of yet.
"Shooting back there, of course that should not have been, that should not have happened. Then they began to spray it with mace and pepper spray," Dollar General manager Carl Duffield says.
Duffield added that the mace scared away his customers, and they all fell ill and ran out of the store. He alerted the police, and an investigation was launched. He did manage to kill the squirrel eventually, before being told to leave the store.
"There was a lot of people that come out and just like me they came out and they were coughing and a hacking. It was comical, but I'm sure they didn't feel that way, the customers that came out," he recalls.
Putnam refused to file a report about the unauthorized use of the firearm and he was terminated this October 2.
He has been with the Mountain City Police department for five years. He previously worked for 14 years at the Johnson County Sheriff's Department.