Police officer loses job after shooting squirrel inside store

Following a call to local animal control with reference to a squirrely intruder causing a ruckus inside the the Dollar General Store in Mountain City, Tennessee, on Friday, September 27, Animal Control Officer Gary Phillips was unavailable so Town of Mountain City Police Officer Jody Putnam was dispatched.

According to an eyewitness at the scene of the incident, when Officer Putnam arrived, the squirrel was still inside the store and becoming increasingly hostile, presumably due to the stress of the incident. In order to apprehend the perpetrator, Officer Putnam made the decision to mace the squirrel.  At the time Officer Putnam deployed the mace, customers were allegedly still in the store but the smell and subsequent burn caused a mass evacuation.

Unfortunately for Officer Putnam and the squirrel, the mace was not enough to apprehend the squirrel so Putnam reached for his next line of defense – his service weapon. It is unknown exactly how many shots Officer Putnam fired at the squirrel.  One eyewitness said they didn’t hear a gunshot at all but rather heard the sudden “scream of the squirrel.”

When the bystander re-entered the store, Officer Putnam had the squirrel pinned beneath his shoe and the animal was obviously dead. Another bystander said that Officer Putnam fired three shots. As a result of this incident, a unanimous decision was made by the City Council to terminate Officer Putnam’s employment. Mountain City Mayor Lawrence Keeble said, “The decision the City Council made on this incident speaks for itself.” It is not clear whether or not any charges will be filed against Putnam.