WASHINGTON -- Everett police officers shot and killed a pit bull Monday night after it reportedly attacked them and a police dog.
Around 11 p.m., police were called to help with crowd control at a fire in the 3200 block of Rucker Avenue, Sgt. Ryan Dalberg said.
The police dog and its handler were checking the area when they found a man in an alley holding on to a large pit bull by the harness, without a leash, Dalberg said.
Officers ordered the man to take the dog away from the area. The man refused and became belligerent.
Officers began to arrest the man for obstruction, but they first ordered him to give the dog to a woman who was with him, Dalberg said. When the officers went to put handcuffs on the man, he fought back.
The pit bull broke free from the woman, Dalberg said. The pit bull bit the police dog and then latched on to its handler, biting the officer on one of his thighs.
Officers first tried to use a Taser on the dog, without effect. He then shot the pit bull with his handgun.
The dog let go, but then began charging other officers, Dalberg said. One officer had to climb onto a patrol car to avoid being bitten.
Several more shots were fired by the officers, and the dog eventually died.
During the scuffle, the dog's owner also was Tased. He was arrested and booked into Snohomish County Jail for investigation of third-degree assault.
The officer who was bitten was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. The police dog was treated by a veterinarian and later released, Dalberg said.
Unlike a shooting involving a human, where policy requires officers to be placed on leave, the officers involved in this incident remain on duty.
Monday marked the second fatal shooting of a pit bull in Everett this month. On Aug. 17, a man shot his neighbor's pit bull in the 7100 block of Lower Ridge Road in Everett. The man told police the dog had charged him and his daughter.
The fire on Rucker on Monday night remains under investigation and its cause is undetermined pending further interviews, Everett Fire Inspector Eric Hicks said.
The fire broke out in the living room of an abandoned house. It was contained to the living room.
Investigators believe squatters may have been living in the house, Hicks said.
(Herald Net - August 30, 2011)
