Las Vegas shooting survivor's comfort dog shot dead by neighbor

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (WLS) -- A Las Vegas shooting survivor says his neighbor shot and killed the comfort dog he adopted after the attack.

Joe Johnson and his wife escaped the gunfire, but Johnson says he still suffered trauma.

"Even to this day when I am walking in a city, I tend to look up," Johnson said.

Since the attack almost a year ago, Johnson has found comfort in a Labradoodle puppy he adopted 20 days after the event and named Jax.

"When I had anxiety and panic attacks, he'd calm me down," Johnson said.

Johnson said he found Jax shot outside his home Sunday.

"By the time I made it to the end of the driveway, Jax was already dead," he said.

Johnson confronted a neighbor who lives across the street upon discovering the dog. He said the neighbor admitted to shooting the dog.

"'If it was your dog chasing my chickens, then yes, I shot your dog,'" he said.

Johnson hung a sign in his yard with Jax's picture that reads "THE GUY ACROSS THE STREET KILLED ME."

"We did the neighborly thing and returned his chickens, only for him to shoot my dog," Johnson said. "Yeah, I do feel threatened. Yeah, I do feel scared in my own home."

The neighbor was cited for recklessly firing a shotgun toward the road, according to local authorities.