Police released more details Wednesday about the fatal shooting of a pit bull in the South Los Angeles area in an incident that left a woman seriously injured.
Officers were sent to 70th Street and Vermont Avenue at about 10:25 a.m. Tuesday on a call for service about a vicious dog, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. They found a female victim lying in the roadway bleeding from a dog bite to her leg.
A few feet away, a man was also lying in the roadway struggling to restrain a large male pit bull, police said. The officers observed that the man’s hands were in the dog’s mouth, trying to keep the animal’s mouth open.
An additional male stood nearby holding a wooden broom handle in the dog’s mouth to prevent him from fully closing his jaw, according to police.
“In an effort to rescue the male victim, the officers devised a plan that involved deploying less lethal options which were ineffective. Believing the male victim was in jeopardy of sustaining serious bodily injury, an officer then utilized his pistol and fired one round at the dog at close range. The dog was struck by gunfire and died moments later,” police said.
Both bite victims were taken to a hospital by ambulance. The female victim sustained a serious injury and the male victim sustained minor lacerations to his hands.
No police officers were injured.
Representatives from Los Angeles Animal Services responded to the scene and took the dog’s remains to the South Los Angeles Animal Shelter.
The dog’s owner has not been identified.
The incident is being investigated by detectives with the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division.