No one was hurt over the weekend when a man shot and killed a pit bull after he thought the dog put children in danger on a residential street in Penn Hills, according to police.
Police Chief Howard Burton said the incident happened around 10 p.m. Saturday on the 100 block of Suncrest Drive.
“They were having a birthday party for the kids, they were around 10- and 12-years-old. They were setting off fireworks, having a good time,” Burton said.
All of the sudden, he said, a woman screamed and yelled as she jumped on the hood of a car. She was trying to get away from the dog, which had become loose from its leash, Burton said.
When the dog ran toward the kids, a man stepped between them and the dog. Burton said the man told police the dog tried to bite him, so another man grabbed a handgun from his vehicle.
“He fired one shot. It hit the dog,” Burton said.
The dog then ran down the street and died outside its owner’s house, the police chief said.
Burton said police will not file charges against anybody involved in the shooting. The man who fired the gun had a permit to carry.
“The owner said she was trying to put the dog inside the house, took the leash off and that’s when it ran away, up the street. So she had control of the dog, but it got away,” Burton said.
