NORTH CAROLINA -- A Haywood County deputy was accidentally shot in the leg by another officer as he fired at an attacking pit bull inside a mobile home following a domestic dispute, Sheriff Bobby Suttles said.
The incident followed a 911 call from a woman who said that her boyfriend tried to run her over with a car outside their home at 235 Walnut Valley Lane in Clyde.
Responding deputies were concerned about the safety of the couple’s 9-month-old child because the woman reported that her boyfriend, George Shane Bivens, had threatened to hurt the baby, Suttles said.
“At that point they made entry into the mobile home,” he said. “The dog tried to attack the officers, and they pulled their weapons and fired at the dog at least five or six times.” The call came in about 8 p.m. Thursday.
One of the bullets struck Deputy Nathan Sutton in the leg just above the ankle. Suttles said it’s unclear whether the shot was a direct hit or had ricocheted.
The baby was found unharmed in a bedroom, and the suspect came out from under the trailer and surrendered, the sheriff said.
Bivens, 24, was jailed on charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor child abuse. He also was served with outstanding warrants charging him with injury to property, driving while license revoked and cyberstalking.
Sutton was treated at Mission Hospital and released.
“He’s expected to do fine,” Suttles said.
The sheriff said it’s unclear whether the dog was hit by the gunfire. The animal ran from the residence and couldn’t be found, he said.
Suttles said an internal investigation of the deputy’s shooting will be conducted, but he doesn’t believe there was any wrongdoing.
“It’s one of those weird things,” he said. “There’s nothing criminal about it. It was just an accident.”
(Asheville Citizen-Times - Nov 16, 2012)
