An Iowa cop shot and killed a 34-year-old woman in front of her husband and four-year-old son. Witnesses say he was aiming for the family dog, which startled him as he was trying to break up an argument between the couple.

The victim, Autumn Mae Steele, of South Garden Ave. in Burlington, Iowa, was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital on Tuesday.

The shooting happened as Officer Jesse Hill responded with colleagues to a domestic dispute call at 10:25am local time, according to a press release from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Hill reportedly fired his gun twice, with one round hitting Steele in the chest, the other in the middle of her torso.

RT