The deputy went to 340 Northeast 44th Street around 2:42 p.m. to check reports of an aggressive dog running loose in the neighborhood and threatening children, sheriff's spokesman Mike Jachles said.
"The dog was a pit bull," he said.
As the deputy got out of his patrol car, the dog jumped at him.
"The dog locked on to the deputy's right forearm," Jachles said. "The deputy was able to fend the dog off however the deputy drew his weapon [and] fired his weapon before the dog could attack him again."
A witness said she heard several gunshots. "I heard growling, and then I saw the officer by my daughter's window. That's where he was shooting, and I screamed at him, 'Why did you kill the dog?' and he said, 'It bit me' and then he showed me his arm," said witness Awilda Diaz.
The dog died at the scene, he said, and Broward County Animal Care and Regulation came to remove the dog's body.
The deputy was taken to Broward Health North Medical Center to be treated for bite wounds and he checked out around 5 p.m., Jachles said.
No neighborhood children were hurt. The dog's owner was not home at the time of the attack and shooting but he arrived afterward. A decision on charges was pending, Jachles said.
The deputy's actions are being investigated which is standard practice, he said.
"Internal affairs were interviewing the neighbors [and] they were interviewing the dog owner," he said. "The investigation is underway."
(Sun Sentinel - April 5, 2013)
