Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, provided a little more information about the tragic death of Angie Harmon’s beloved dog Oliver last weekend, telling TMZ that Oliver had bit the Instacart delivery man who shot the animal.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police stand by their decision not to press charges against the deliveryman who killed Oliver, the “Law and Order” star’s German shepherd/beagle. Although police would not say how they determined the delivery man acted in self-defense, they insisted to TMZ that he was attacked and had bite marks from the dog.
This statement contradicts Harmon’s assertion that Oliver did not threaten the Instacart “shopper” who brought groceries to her home on Easter Sunday. Harmon said she saw no scratches or bite marks on the man. In an Instagram post Monday, Harmon also expressed dismay that the man claimed “self-defense,” meaning responding officers let him go.
Harmon and his attorney also painted a picture of a gunman who was ruthless and even “boastful” about killing his beloved pet. Harmon’s attorney, John Buric, told TMZ that Oliver and another of Harmon’s dogs were outside in the yard when the delivery man arrived.
Harmon was upstairs, putting food in a squirrel feeder, while her children were in the backyard. That’s when they heard a gunshot, Buric said. When they rushed into their yard to find Oliver lying in a pool of blood, Harmon said the man repeatedly said, “Yeah, I just shot your dog.”
The “Rizzoli & Isles” star revealed on Instagram that she and her daughters were “traumatized and beyond devastated” by the shooting of their “beloved boy.” Harmon shared photos of an adorable Oliver, petting, napping and as a puppy. She wrote: “He shot our dog with my daughters and I at home and kept saying, ‘yeah, I shot your dog.’ Yeah, I did.’
It may be no consolation to Harmon and her daughters, but she received an apology from San Francisco-based Instacart for the killing of her dog.
In a statement provided to media, Instacart said the driver involved in the shooting had been suspended.
“We were deeply saddened and troubled by this incident,” the statement said. “We have no tolerance for any form of violence and the buyer’s account was immediately suspended from our platform.”
With Instacart, people sign up to become “shoppers,” creating accounts on an app that lets them see orders in their area and offer to go to local stores and fulfill orders. Shoppers must be at least 18 years old, legally eligible to work in the United States, and have access to a reliable car and a phone that can run the Instacart app. They receive a percentage of the order, based on the size of the order, the distance traveled, and the effort required to purchase and deliver the items.
Instacart said it has been in “direct contact” with Harmon and is cooperating with local law enforcement investigating the matter.
Although police said they closed the case, they provided additional information to TMZ that could raise further questions about the delivery man. He had been arrested in the past for an undisclosed offense, but he was never convicted of a crime, so nothing stopped him from legally owning a gun, TMZ reported.
Harmon had also pointed out that the delivery person was using a woman’s Instacart shopper account. It also emerged that he knew he wasn’t being recorded when he shot the dog, with Harmon claiming his Ring security camera was loading inside at the time of the incident.
Harmon then wrote a message directly to the delivery person on his Instagram Stories.
“To the man who took Ollie from us: your actions are despicable and inexcusable,” Harmon wrote. “You not only stole a beloved member of our family from us, but you also traumatized us beyond measure.”
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