DETROIT – Sean Harris is happy to be alive, but he wants to catch the men who wounded him and killed his family dog at Onasis Coney Island on Detroit's west side.
"I shouldn't have to go through this in my own neighborhood," said Harris.
He went to the restaurant early Monday morning at Tireman Street and Livernois Avenue to pick up food for his mom.
"I actually have diabetes and I hadn't had anything to eat," said Sonya Caldwell, Harris's mother. "So he said, 'Mom you have to eat something,' before I take my insulin."
The 9-week-old shih tzu named Raja often rode along with his owners. Security video shows Harris holding the puppy as he waited for his food inside the restaurant.
On the video is another man in the restaurant who alerted an accomplice waiting outside in a sedan. The man outside grabbed a shotgun and went after Harris, who was carrying the dog.
"They ran up on me, put the shotgun in my face. He told me to give him everything. I complied, but he told me he was going to shoot me regardless," said Harris.
He gave the men money but refused to give them the keys to his car. At this point they were outside.
"I tried to ease my way to the door and I pulled the door on Onasis, and they had locked the door," said Harris. "So, you know, right then I thought it was over."
Harris grabbed at the shotgun and the man pulled the trigger.
"I was running with a hole in my leg. I could see my bone," he said.
The other man lifted the puppy high over his head and slammed it to the pavement, viciously killing the dog.
Caldwell's first concern is her son, but she was fighting back tears thinking about the dog and how it was killed.
"On top of that, you hurt an innocent animal. This dog was 9 weeks old. Why? What was the purpose? What are you proving? That's cruel," she said.
Meanwhile, Harris was desperate for help. He ran into traffic for help on Tireman Street. One driver hit him at low speed and another took him to his house just a few blocks away.
"I've never seen so much malevolence in just one video. I don't understand why people do some of the things they do," said Harris's brother, Jordan Harris.
Sean Harris will need a skin graft and physical therapy.
"I was more upset that my mom was crying. But it's OK though, I'm here. I'm here. I'm talking to you," he said.
Detroit police say the men were driving a 2005 or 2006 gold Chevrolet Impala. They want help in the search for the men on the video.