SPD investigating incident where local resident's dog was shot, killed at Seattle cemetery

A Seattle woman is working with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and is seeking justice after she claimed her dog was shot and killed at a cemetery in December.

The local resident, Julia Einarsson, was finishing up a walk with her dog, Remy, at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery near Aurora Avenue on Dec. 17. The dog became spooked by a passing coyote and started barking, disrupting a large gathering by a nearby grave.

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“I had him between my knees to hold him back, and he backed out of his harness and then ran around the car and barked at the family,” Einarsson told KIRO 7. “Scared the family.”

According to Einarsson, Remy didn’t bite anyone in the group, but did run up to them and barked at them from a few feet away. Everyone in the group got in their car after Einarsson asked them to, except for one man. The unidentified man tried to make the dog stop barking before walking over to his car and pulling a gun out of his jacket, firing at Remy.

“He repeated several times, ‘I’m very sorry, I’m very sorry. Do you want me to call the police?’” Einarsson said. “I said ‘I don’t even know what to do. I just need to get my dog to the emergency room.’”

She rushed to get her dog help, but Remy died approximately an hour later at a local animal hospital. According to Einarsson, she never saw the man again.

“I talk to (Remy) every day,” she said. “I tell him that I’m sorry that I couldn’t save him.”

According to KIRO 7, Einarsson rescued Remy after he was found on the streets and moved from shelter to shelter. She had him for approximately 2.5 years.

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Seattle Police confirmed with KIRO 7 that the department is investigating the incident. As of this reporting, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) located a shell casing at the scene. The department is asking for any information regarding the large group that was visiting a grave on the east side of the cemetery on Dec. 17.

Einarsson is hoping the man turns himself in.

“Remy was my world,” she said. “Why did he have to kill him? Why couldn’t he have just joined his family in the car?”

Contributing: KIRO 7

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here