Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Indiana: Man shoots dog that ran out of house at him

Fort Wayne, Indiana

From the News Sentinel of June 16, 2008
Man shoots dog that ran out of house at him

Jose Aquila said his pit bull was just trying to protect his 2-year-old when she was shot and killed about 7:40 p.m. Monday.

Aquila said the 6-year-old pit bull, Sapphire, charged out of his house at 4445 Schmucker Drive and began barking at a man who was holding Jose Jr.'s hand to keep him from running into the street. The man, who has a permit to carry a concealed pistol, fired twice from close range, striking Sapphire in the neck and spine and grazing his own toe, according to Aquila.

“She never bit him. She was just kind of warning him to get away,” Aquila said. “She seen a stranger grabbing my son.”

Aquila said before the shooting the man came to his backyard to ask if he owned a missing pit bull roaming the neighborhood. Aquila, who said he was holding Sapphire on a leash with Jose Jr. nearby at the time, said he didn't own the dog, and the man then inquired about the approximately one-month-old puppies Sapphire had.

While Aquila put Sapphire inside the house, Jose Jr. ran in front of the house. Aquila said Sapphire then ran out the front door. Seconds later he heard two shots.

The man told Fort Wayne Police he backpedaled as the dog came charging out of the home, but he fell on his back and the dog started coming for his feet. “I knew (it was going) to bite me, so I pulled out my pistol and shot it twice,” the man said in the report.

Aquila said Sapphire had never bitten anyone and was not normally an aggressive dog. Aquila said police told him the man - whom The News-Sentinel could not reach for comment - will not be charged because he had a right to defend himself. The police report confirmed the man would not be charged.

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