Gastonia, North Carolina police officers encountered veteran Joshua Rohrer and his dog Sunshine, who was trained to help him cope with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his time in the Army National Guard, after responding to a call about alleged panhandling.
“The officer asked him for his ID,” witness Justyn Huffman said. “He wasn’t moving fast enough so he tried to reach into his pocket to get his ID. They slammed him up against the car. They put cuffs on him.”
Huffman and two other witnesses said that Sunshine sprung to action and bit one of the officer’s boots. An officer allegedly fired a stun gun at Sunshine, striking the dog and causing her to run away with one of the prongs still hanging off her body.
“We’re out here screaming, ‘Don’t shoot the dog! Don’t shoot the dog!'” said Huffman. “[Rohrer] said, ‘My dog! My dog!’…They took him to the back of the police car and slammed him on the pavement.”
Rohrer was charged with panhandling and resisting arrest. Rohrer’s Veterans Affairs advocate Dave Dowell managed to track down Sunshine while her owner was in jail. However, the dog escaped from Dowell soon after, running away a second time.
Rohrer was released from jail the following day and began an extensive search for his service dog. After about two days, he made the horrifying discovery that Sunshine had been struck by a car and killed. Dowell told Military Times that the news made Rohrer despondent and suicidal.