LOCK HAVEN — State police say an internal investigation is being conducted into a trooper fatally shooting a dog inside a Clinton County home while conducting a welfare check on a child.

The Jan. 26 incident has left her four daughters, ages 11 to 15, traumatized, their mother Jennifer Shaffer said Sunday.

“My kids are scared now,” she said. “They don’t feel safe in my house.”

They have trouble sleeping and don’t want to go to school because they get picked on, she said.

Her youngest, Kimberly, was standing next to the trooper when he shot Kada, a 9-year-old pit bull-boxer, she said. The dog belonged to her live-in boyfriend, Chase Counsel.

The children see the dog’s blood every time they use the stairs because it stained the carpet, Shaffer said.

State police said they sent a trooper to the house along Renovo Road in Allison Township outside Lock Haven about 11:40 a.m. Jan. 26 in response to a call from Central Mountain Middle School regarding an email a student sent from a school-owned laptop to a friend.

The school was closed that day due to snow, and both Shaffer and her boyfriend were working.

State police Sunday released their account of what happened after they responded to the house:

Nobody answered the door, so the trooper attempted several times to call the mother. With that being unsuccessful, attempts were made to contact her last known place of employment.

They then reached out to Counsel, who related that both were at work, but they were aware of the situation, and the children should be in the home.

The trooper left, but then state police were advised someone needed to physically see the student to ensure she was OK.

Body cam footage showed that when a different trooper arrived, he knocked on the front door, and he heard dogs barking. He held onto the doorknob to keep the door from being opened fully so the dogs did not get out.

However, a juvenile opened the door, and one of the dogs immediately attacked the trooper, ripping his pants and tearing his boot.

He was able to create momentary distance before the dog attacked him again, grabbing onto his arm. The trooper told the juvenile several times to get the dog.

It was then that he fired one shot to stop the attack, hitting the dog. He immediately checked to see if the juvenile was OK and had all the girls leave the residence,

The dog ran through the house, leaving a trail of blood before succumbing.

The trooper suffered injuries to his hand and leg. He was treated at UPMC Lock Haven.

According to Shaffer, the trooper could not reach her because her phone was in her locker at work. Counsel went to her place of work and notified her of the situation. This is what she claims occurred:

She called home, was told everyone was safe, and so informed the school about 2:30 p.m.

She explained that the daughter who sent the flagged message was venting to a friend, and there were no issues.

School officials told her the wellness check would be canceled and that state troopers involved would be notified. She returned to work believing no further action was needed.

About 7:30 p.m., after Counsel picked her up at work, she received a frantic phone call from her daughters, who were screaming that their dog had been shot, there was blood everywhere, and they could not find Kimberly.

Fearing someone had broken into the home, harmed her dog, and taken her child, the mother called 911.

During that call, she was informed that a state trooper had shot the dog.

Kimberly told her mother that both family dogs rushed to the door when it opened, that the trooper kicked both of them and ordered the 11-year-old to hold them back before shooting Kada.

He then instructed Kimberly to step outside without shoes or a coat to avoid being near the dog.

Kada was not an aggressive dog and would not bite unless provoked, Shaffer said. The children played roughly with her regularly without incident. She believes the dog was attempting to protect her child.

The other family dog, Bambi, fled in fear and was not injured.

“I’m mad about a lot of things,” Shaffer said. “I feel they could have handled things differently.”

She has not been told why the second trooper returned to the house five hours later after the school was advised there were no issues at the home, she said.

She said that she is pleased state police are doing an internal investigation because, she said, “I want to know the truth.”