On 10-20-14, at 11:12 AM, officers were sent to 310 N. Virginia on a report that a pit bull jumped a fence and bit a man and had tried to attack a juvenile female earlier. The first officer to arrive was a motorcycle officer. When he started to approach the house, the brown pit bull dog attempted to jump over an approximately three foot fence marked with a “beware of dog” sign to attack the officer. When the officer saw the dog coming over the fence at him, he fired one shot with his duty handgun. The dog fell back but again tried to get over the fence at the officer. The officer fired a second shot which also hit the dog. The dog went to a dog house behind the home. Officers found a second similar breed dog in the house, but it was not aggressive. Animal Management and Welfare arrived and took custody of the first dog. Officers spoke the original bite victim, a HM 30 that lives nearby. He told officers that he and a friend were walking by the home when the same brown dog started barking at them. The dog then jumped the fence, ran straight at him, and bit him on the arm. The dog then ran back to the yard. This man was treated for a dog bite on the arm at a local hospital and released. Animal Welfare has advised that the dog was transported to a veterinarian and the owner was contacted.
As is standard procedure in all cases of an officer discharging a firearm for any reason in the course of duty, the APD Internal Affairs Investigator is investigating this incident.
