Imperial man suspected of fatally shooting dog

IMPERIAL — Imperial Police Department submitted a police report Tuesday to the District Attorney’s Office regarding the arrest of Jonathan Landa Torres, a 31-year-old Imperial man who allegedly shot and killed his dog.

A charging decision is still pending from the district attorney, and Torres is currently out on bond as of Wednesday, according to county Sheriff’s Office arrest records.

An investigation concluded that on March 17, Torres used his personal firearm to shoot and kill his young canine in his backyard because it peed on the house carpet, Imperial police logs said.

Torres was not booked on suspicion of any offenses involving a firearm.

Torres was arrested at about 3 a.m. March 17 at an apartment in the 400 North K Street by Imperial police officers and booked into county jail on suspicion of cruelty to an animal.

Torres was held on a $1,500 for the alleged offense.

IPD officers responded at 2 a.m. March 17 to the report of four shots being fired in an apartment. Two separate reporting parties advised police of hearing the shots being fired from an apartment in the 400 block of North K.

Police requested assistance from county sheriff’s deputies and responded to the North K apartment.

At about 2:25 a.m., an Imperial police officer stated a suspect from the North K Street apartment shot into the air.

Minutes later, Torres was detained and arrested, and a Smith and Wesson firearm was recovered by law enforcement officials.

Outrage on social media began Tuesday night regarding the arrest of Torres. A number of posts refer to the canine that Torres allegedly killed to be a nine-week old puppy named Clark.

An awareness movement using the hashtag #justiceforclark has continued since.