An intermediate state appellate court acknowledged the “tragic loss” of a Waco couple’s Labrador retriever shot by a Waco police officer last year, but ruled the city of Waco is immune from liability in the case.
Waco’s 10th State Court of Appeals on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Cassandra Page and Matthew Vasquez, reversing a decision by Judge Jim Meyer of Waco’s 170th State District Court that had denied a dismissal request the city made on the grounds of jurisdictional immunity.
A nine-page ruling written by 10th Court of Appeals Chief Justice Tom Gray, and joined by justices Matt Johnson and Steven Smith, bars Page and Vasquez from refiling the suit.
The incident happened June 3, 2023, after a dispatch error sent officers on a burglary-in-progress call to an address on North 20th Street, rather than the corresponding address a block away on North 20th A Street where the call was made. The department’s dispatch system “autocorrected” the address to exclude the A, police said at the time.
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The responding officers saw an open back door and entered the backyard of the house on North 20th, where several dogs including Page and Vasquez’s Labrador, Finn, ran toward them from inside the house, police reported at the time.
Officers’ body camera footage released shortly after the incident showed officers enter the backyard with their weapons drawn. Police have previously said the open back door aligned with information they had received from the 911 call. The video shows Finn jump toward one of the officers twice and the moment the officer shot, followed by Page emerging from the house in confusion.
Page and Vasquez rushed Finn to an emergency clinic, but the injuries proved fatal.
The couple retained attorney Bradrick Collins, who has publicly argued that Finn’s actions were protective rather than aggressive and questioned the officer’s decision to use lethal force. Collins previously highlighted the emotional distress his clients experienced and Finn’s role as a beloved pet and part of their family.
Governmental immunity under Texas law shields municipalities from legal action, along with their agents when performing official duties, unless a statutory exception applies.
