PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — A family and neighborhood mourning after a beloved horse was found shot and killed Sunday.
Neighbors have left flowers for the cherished member of the neighborhood, LeMon.
"He was the neighborhood star. Everybody loved him. He knew more people than we did. They're stopping us all the time here talking about how they come and see him every day," Karen Greer, the owner, said.
Early Sunday morning, when Greer went to feed LeMon, she found the horrific scene. She called the vet, not knowing exactly what happened and that's when the vet found the bullet hole.
"It's going to be with me for a long time," Greer said.
Greer said the bullet went through the horse's skull and spine and he was shot at point-blank range.
"The horse was so friendly he probably went right up to him and made it easy," Greer said.
Greer said she and her neighbors heard a gunshot around 12:30 a.m. but were used to noise and it didn't seem unusual. Surveillance video from a neighbor showed a white car driving by around that same time.
"You can hear it come up and stop and it didn't just leave and then you hear the pop," Greer said.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department said at this time, it can't confirm if the car in the video is involved or if the noise was a gunshot.
Greer said LeMon is her daughter's horse, who was going to live with her in Montana in May, and now is shattered.
"It was the worst phone call of my life because I couldn't hold her. All I could do is cry and scream," Greer said.
Greer can't think of why or who would want to hurt LeMon.
"I don't know, I don't know. I can't imagine. It's just evil. I feel sorry for you because obviously things have happened to you that made you this way and I hope you can overcome it or get caught," Greer said.
Greer said she is thankful for the community's love and support.
"To the people who are hurting, because they knew him from driving by walking by, we’ll get through this. Thank you for loving him because they did," Greer said.
Pierce County deputies said a shell casing wasn't found, but Greer says they will be searching the area for one in hopes of connecting it to who's responsible.
LeMon's owners are offering a $6,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the people who shot and killed the horse. If you have information about the killing, call animal control at (253) 798-3787, option 1 and reference badge No. 9209. You can also email pcanimalcontrolofficer@piercecountywa.gov.
The owners previously set up a GoFundMe to raise money for the reward.