9-year-old traumatized after Detroit Police officer shoots his dog in front of him

(FOX 2) - A young boy is traumatized after his dog was shot by a Detroit Police officer right in front of him. 

“I said it was my dog, I said can you help me find my dog,” Elijah Hughs said.

9-year-old Elijah Hughs still wide eyed, and worried after his dog was shot by police right in front of him. 

“I didn't know that they had shot him I thought they just like made the sound so they could freak out and run,” Hughs said.

The dog, Stormy survived but was hurt bad. 

Fox 2: “What did you do when you heard that gunshot?”

“Nothing, I just froze,” he said.

"This is probably one of the worst things I've seen and I have been doing this a long time,”

Emotional moments as the family hands Stormy over to Detroit Dog Rescue for vet care, something they can't afford. 

“DDR is here to help families pick up the pieces, and it’s getting old,” Kristina Rinaldi said. 

Kristina Rinaldi with DDR, and this family have a lot of questions surrounding what happened during the shooting.

“Where is the follow up, where is animal control, where are the people that are supposed to help?” she said.

Elijah tells Fox 2 he was walking Stormy and their other dog Bandit Friday afternoon on Detroit's East Side. 

They got loose and ran Elijah flagged down a Detroit Police car telling them his dogs got loose. 

“One of the police officers jumped out the car and they shot stormy and then she ran,” he said.

Detroit Police say they had gotten a 911 call about vicious dogs in the area, when they got on scene they say Stormy charged at them.

“We don't know if the dog is friendly or not its running toward the officer and the officer have to make a split decision at that time,” Captain Keeth Williams with Detroit Police said. 

Captain Keeth Williams says they followed protocol when an animal is threatening an officer or the public. 

Typically, animal control handles these calls but not always. 

“Obviously the officers are not going to wait on animal control in order to handle that situation,” Williams said.

Williams says the officer involved is upset over what happened especially because it happened right in front of Elijah. 

The family plans on filing a complaint with Detroit Police, they think there had to be another option here. 

“The officer is an animal lover this the last thing we want to see but sometimes situations like this are unavoidable,” he said.

Stormy is going to make it but her jaw is completely shattered from the gunshot. The bills for her care will be upwards of 10-thosuand dollars.

Detroit Dog Rescue is taking donations, click here.