The man accused of shooting three police officers and barricading himself inside his Southeast home all day Wednesday was wanted for punching a dog on camera last year, according to court documents made public Thursday.
The filing also revealed that Stephen Claude Rattigan, 48, of Southeast, had 31 dogs at his home when D.C. police officers came to his door with an arrest warrant on animal cruelty charges.
An additional document showed that Mr. Rattigan’s landlord had an eviction notice approved last month after the suspect failed to get rid of his dogs last summer.
Neighbors complained that the man’s large number of animals was causing his street to reek of urine and feces.
A D.C. Superior Court judge ordered Mr. Rattigan to be kept behind bars until his next trial date at the end of February.
The “no bail” jailing came after the suspected gunman was charged with shooting three cops during their visit to his residence in the 5000 block of Hanna Place Southeast.
Prosecutors said police knocked and announced themselves to Mr. Rattigan, but the suspect refused to cooperate.
Authorities were beginning to break down the door when a hail of bullets sent them running for cover, according to court documents.
Two officers were left with wounds to their ankle and leg, and another officer’s bulletproof vest prevented a gunshot from piercing his torso, the filing said. All three were discharged from the hospital Thursday.
The shooting ignited a tense, 12-hour barricade outside the suspect’s home where Mr. Rattigan was accused of occasionally firing off rounds. Some of the bullets struck police vehicles and cars belonging to neighbors.
Prosecutors said at one point Mr. Rattigan called a Metropolitan Police officer he knew to tell the cop that he shot at a group of people at his door.
The officer told Mr. Rattigan to turn himself in, according to court documents, but Mr. Rattigan replied that he was “not going to surrender [my] dogs, they will have to kill me.”
Mr. Rattigan finally turned himself in around 7:45 p.m., according to police.
Court documents revealed that a concerned citizen reported Mr. Rattigan to the Washington Humane Society last month for possible animal abuse.
The citizen said on Jan. 5 that at least four pit bull terrier-type dogs were being neglected by the suspect, and the neighborhood smelled of urine and feces.
About a week later, the citizen shared home surveillance video from April 2023 that allegedly showed Mr. Rattigan publicly beat a dog after it became too excited around a young child.
“[Mr. Rattigan] then enters the picture … and approaches one of the dogs, grabbing it and pulling it down/away from the witness and [their] child,” the filing said. “The dog stays, cowering from the suspect. [Mr. Rattigan] then proceeded to punch the dog in the face six times, causing the dog to yelp each time that it gets hit before then chasing it back to his property.”
Prosecutors said the Washington Humane Society made contact with Mr. Rattigan multiple times after viewing the video, and each time he identified himself as “Julius James.”
The organization was able to secure an arrest warrant for misdemeanor animal cruelty in connection to the video.
He is scheduled to return to court Feb. 29.