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The Gila County Sheriff’s ReservePosse Sweetheart Dance is  Saturday night at the Gila County Fairgrounds. Tickets for couples, singles and family are $25.

Happy hour is from 5 to 6:pm. Barbecue on a bun and beans will be served starting at 6:pm. The dance is from 7 to 11:pm.

A Sheriff’s deputy in Young has been suspended for shooting his neighbor’s dog while neighbors watched.

The Payson Roundup reports that the Gila County Sheriff’s Office has found that Deputy Jeff McClure violated department policies, showed unprofessional conduct and put others in danger. The Sheriff’s Office has suspended McClure without pay for 40 hours, required him to attend eight hours of training and extended his probation for six months.

The Payson Roundup filed a Freedom of Information Act request and received a copy of the 41-page internal report.

The incident occurred just hours after McClure finished teaching a firearms safety class. He chased the dog through his large yard after he saw about a dozen dead chickens and a dead rabbit on his property. McClure shot the dog five times before firing a final kill shot while the dog lay paralyzed on the ground.

A family of 17—including 7 children—watched from a nearby yard along with two other neighbors in another yard.

McClure says his shots didn’t endanger anyone because he is an expert marksman with years of experience. But the Gila County Sheriff’s Office internal investigator disagreed.