WICHITA — A man is in jail facing charges for attempted first-degree murder, but it’s a video posted to social media of what he allegedly did to a kitten that has the city in an uproar.
Police say they have evidence tying 28-year-old Damion Looney to a haunting video in which a 16 week-old kitten is seen being thrown twice against a wall.
The video, which went viral on social media Sunday, is captioned “This day calls for this.” A small white and orange kitten is seen being held in front of the camera. The person holding the kitten is not shown but is believed to be Looney. Another caption appears on the video reading, “I hate cats I killed Damions dog.”
The kitten is then thrown against the wall, the video shows. The animal cries out and is then seen crawling towards a bicycle sitting in the middle of the floor. The kitten is visibly injured and is seen dragging its hind legs before being thrown against the wall a second time.
Police said at a press conference on Monday that the kitten was taken to a local animal hospital where it was euthanized. The cat belonged to Looney’s 23-year-old girlfriend. Police said that despite the reference to Looney’s dog in the Snapchat video, no dog was injured during the incident. Looney’s dog died earlier this year, but not from abuse.
The disturbing case of animal cruelty occurred early Friday morning and is related to a fight between Looney and his girlfriend that began at a local bar.
According to Wichita police, Looney reportedly pepper-sprayed his girlfriend at the bar. Both were kicked out, and when the girlfriend arrived at her house, Looney was already there. Armed, Looney fired two gunshots into the ground. The girlfriend then called four of her friends. When they arrived, Looney allegedly pistol-whipped one — a 21-year-old — and shot a 24-year-old man in the head. The man is expected to survive but suffered serious injuries.
The video of the kitten was filmed shortly before or shortly after the shooting.
Looney was arrested and booked into Sedgwick County jail on Friday and is charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, criminal possession of a firearm, and aggravated kidnapping for the assault against his girlfriend’s friends. He’s being held on $250,000 bond.
Looney has at least one prior felony on his record. He was arrested in Texas in 2010 after attacking two bouncers at a bar in Austin.
There was much confusion after publication of the video about who filmed the incident. The video was sent from the Snapchat account of Looney’s girlfriend and went viral after a man in Wichita posted it to Facebook and Twitter. But police said Monday that Looney appears to have tried to frame her for the abuse. The set-up worked for several hours. Numerous threats were made online against Looney’s girlfriend after the video was published.
(WARNING: This video is extremely disturbing and may not be suitable for some viewers)