On July 29, 2016, at approximately 6:30 am, Gotham was quietly eating breakfast with his owner, Mike Urban, who was making his lunch for work. All of a sudden, Officers from the Buffalo Police Department were at his door. Gotham, thinking he had new friends to play with, quietly sat, wagging his tail, waiting for a treat.

Detective Charles Militello discharged his firearm on multiple times and in an unjustified manner, shot and killed 18-month old, Gotham. Mike Urban who was standing by his dogs side was begging Officer Militello to let him put Gotham in his crate when the shot was fired.

On July 29 2014, Buffalo Narcotics officers and the SWAT team stormed a West Seneca residence on Edson Street at 6 am in the morning. The residents were sleeping with their house-dog, a nine month old pit-bull puppy named Rocky, who was beloved both in the house and within the community. Rocky had been trained and loved from the time of his birth, was very well socialized, and did not have a mean bone in his body.

In fact, medical records show that despite the officers frightening method of entry into the residence, all Rocky did was stretch his legs at the foot of Joseph Smith, one of his owners' bed. Photos, police reports, and medical records show that two narcotics officers Detectives Joseph Smith and Shawn Adams shot Rocky numerous times with multiple firearms from over 10 feet away as the innocent dog stretched on Smith's bed.

Outcome

The police found a small amount of drug residue and marijuana in the cubbies of a bedroom and charged Joseph Smith, whose dog was blown up at his feet. Smith’s attorney, after a long legal battle, was able to get the charges against his client dismissed. Despite the thousands of dollars that have gone into this worthless prosecution, the DA doubled downed to protect the dog killers and refilled the charges against Smith