Bystander fatally shoots dog attacking a woman and her dog, Philly police say
The woman and other witnesses at the scene told police that a man had fired two shots from his personal firearm, striking the larger dog, which fled the scene and was later found dead nearby.
A bystander shot a large dog Saturday as it attacked a woman and her smaller dog in Philadelphia’s Oxford Circle neighborhood, according to police.
Police said they were called at 11:45 a.m. to the 6300 block of Horrocks Street, where witnesses reported a large black dog, possibly a pit bull or mastiff, had attacked the woman and smaller dog.
The woman and other witnesses told police that an unknown man had fired two shots from his personal firearm, striking the larger dog, which fled the scene. The animal was found dead about a block or two away on Levick Street, police said.
Both the woman and the man who shot the dog remained at the scene and cooperated with police, according to a report. Neither was injured, although the woman’s dog had been bitten, police said. Officers took the body of the dead dog to ACCT Philly.
Police did not say whether any charges were pending against the man who fired the weapon or whether he was licensed to carry the gun he used.
Last month, the District Attorney’s Office announced that the head of the FBI’s Philadelphia division would not be charged for fatally shooting a pit bull outside a Center City apartment building in February. In that case, which attracted widespread attention, authorities said Jacqueline Maguire, the special agent in charge of the bureau’s local office, was off duty when she shot an “aggressive dog” after the pit bull appeared to have attacked Maguire’s smaller dog outside the Touraine apartment building on the 1500 block of Spruce Street.