We now know who shot Simba, a two-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier, 13 times during a drug raid at a house on Sixth Street Dec. 8: A team of US Marshals.
The incident occurred during "Operation Sundown", a massive drug sweep that targeted four local trafficking operations and resulted in the arrest of two dozen suspects.
The overall operation, the culmination of a five-month investigation, involved teams of officers from the Key West Police Dept., US Drug Enforcement Administration, Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, the US Marshall's Office, US Customs and the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.
Reportedly, no one was home when the US Marshals entered the Sixth Street home— except Simba. Animal Shelter Director Charles Brown said the owner of the dog told him that he had counted some 50 bullet holes in the blood-spattered bedroom where Simba was gunned down.
Brown said he counted 12 wounds in the dog's torso and one in the head. The dog's body had been taken to the Shelter to be frozen as "evidence".
According to Cynthia Edwards, the spokesperson for the Key West Police Dept., the US Marshal's Office is investigating the incident.