Officer shoots dog; WPSO investigation underway

By KTBS Web Staff

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    CULLEN, Louisiana (KTBS) — A Cullen police officer – who has a past arrest for animal cruelty — is under investigation after he shot a dog then pointed his gun at the owner.

Sheriff Jason Parker hopes to have a resolution to the investigation within the next day or two following interviews and a review of video that took place today. More interviews are expected Tuesday.

Video circulating social media shows Cullen police Officer Reginald Ferguson pointing his gun at Dashanna Wortham’s dog, Tank. Wortham is heard asking Ferguson to let her get Tank and put him in the house.

Before she started filming the incident on her cell phone, Wortham told KTBS she was explaining to Ferguson that Tank, and another dog that’s in a fenced in area, are house dogs and only go outside to do their business.

“He’s friendly; he wants to play,” Wortham said of Tank.

But as she pleads with Ferguson to get in his car so she could get her dog, he fires off one round, striking Tank in the right shoulder. Then Ferguson points his weapon at Wortham, who was standing near the dog when the shot was fired.

“He came up on my property telling me to get my dog. You shot the dog 4 feet from me. What if you shot me? The bullet could have ricocheted. Why were you pointing the gun at me?” said Wortham, who was still emotional about the encounter on Monday.

After she got her injured dog in the house, Wortham said Ferguson told her she was going to be arrested. Wortham said she tried to talk to him then other officers drove up.

By that time Wortham had gone back inside her house to check on Tank.

“I was trying to comply with him … but I was scared and traumatized,” Wortham said.

The officers left without making any other attempt to talk with her, Wortham said. Later Sunday night, Wortham said she had a missed call from Cullen Police Chief Fannie Rankin.

Wortham filed a complaint about Ferguson with the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office Monday morning.

Meanwhile, Tank is being treated at McMahen Veterinary Hospital in Springhill. He’ll undergo another consultation before a decision is made about whether his leg needs to be amputated.

And as for Ferguson, in May 2024 the sheriff’s office arrested him on three counts of aggravated felony cruelty to animals and five counts of simple cruelty to animals after several horses and donkeys, described as skin and bones, were found on his property along with two dead horses.

He also was fired from the Cotton Valley Police Department.

Information about his employment with the Cullen Police Department was not immediately available. Rankin did not return a call for comment; however, an attorney who said she was calling on Rankin’s behalf said the chief would not comment since the matter is under investigation.

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