2 Marines,1 civilian accused of killing, injuring dogs with BB guns
The Geoje Police Station said Wednesday that two active-duty soldiers and one civilian — all unnamed males in their 20s — fired hundreds of BB pellets at four dogs that were tied up in a restaurant yard in a small town in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, on June 8.
Of the four dogs, one died as a result of the attack, while two sustained serious injuries to their eyes and other parts of their bodies.
Police booked the civilian without detention on charges of violation of the Animal Protection Act and trespassing. The two soldiers were transferred back to their units, and their cases were referred to the military.
The Marine Corps said in a statement released Thursday that it plans to take 'strict measures' against the soldiers who allegedly committed the crime while they were on leave. They also expressed condolences to the owners of the dogs.
The suspects told the police that the attack was 'unintentional' and that they fired the BB guns at the dogs after getting bitten by them. They were staying at a nearby accommodation at the time.
But a police official who obtained surveillance camera footage of the scene said that the video 'only showed them trespassing on the restaurant's yard and shooting BB guns at the dogs that were tied up.' They were unable to find any evidence of the dogs biting them.
In the surveillance footage that went viral online, the three men can be seen throwing rocks at the dogs, flashing lights, and rounding them up before firing BB guns toward them.
According to local reports, the father of one of the suspects visited one of the owners later and said he would 'pay off' for his son's alleged crimes, while one of the soldiers' units called the owner to ask them not to make the case public.
A group of some 3,600 Marine reservists released a statement on Wednesday calling for 'stern punishment' on the suspects, while highlighting the need for the military to punitively discharge them from the Marine Corps.
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