Donkey owner responds to officer's immunity motion

A Georgia police officer sued over the shooting death of a family's miniature donkey filed a motion Monday asking a judge to dismiss the case, arguing he is shielded from liability. Officer Trenton Ryan Garner's attorney wrote in the filing that qualified immunity protects officials from lawsuits seeking money over actions taken during their work.

The shooting happened shortly after midnight on Aug. 30 in Polk County, as officers helped search for a missing 12-year-old girl. Garner told dispatch after the incident: "Firearm discharged at a donkey. It was trying to attack us in the pasture and on the track." Garner wrote that another officer activated a Taser's electrical arc to try to scare the animal off, but HeeHaw kept approaching. He said he fired once, and the donkey turned, moved uphill, and collapsed.

Hannah Michelle Israel, HeeHaw's owner, alleges in her legal complaint that officers walked into her fenced pasture without a warrant or permission and shot the animal without cause. Her filing describes HeeHaw as "young, small, and tranquil" and states he "posed no threat." Garner's motion counters that he reasonably believed the donkey presented an immediate threat to another officer and that no federal or state law barred him from firing. "Officer Garner was on duty, on a police search, when he fired. That is discretionary authority," his brief reads.

The motion also argues the shooting was reasonable and that qualified immunity would apply even if the shot was a mistake. "Officer Garner knew nothing about this donkey. He did not know its temperament or how it treated strangers. He did not know that it was bottle-raised, gentle, or used to children," the motion reads. "The Amended Complaint does not allege that he had ever encountered this donkey before that night. What he could see was an animal of unknown temperament coming quickly out of the dark toward a fellow officer."

Israel's attorney told CBS News Atlanta that a response to the new motion is planned.

A video obtained by CBS News Atlanta shows the donkey galloping toward officers, who attempt to back away.