Deltona man shoots, kills pit bull attacking in home

FLORIDA -- A Deltona man in fear of a pit bull that tore his window’s screen and tried to get into the house shot it to death with an assault rifle, Volusia deputies said.

Peter Swebilius, 44, said he was sitting in the living area of his Delaware Road home watching television with his dog before 8:30 p.m. Saturday when he heard a loud crash and noticed a large animal coming through the screened window.

Swebilius said in a 9-1-1 call that he had a sick wife and his dog in the home.

Swebilius grabbed the .45-caliber pistol he had in the living room and turned on the exterior lights, illuminating the backyard. He saw a large pit bull, about 100 pounds, trying to get into the house to attack him and his dog, deputies said.

After seeing the size of the animal, Swebilius ran to the master bedroom and armed himself with his loaded “AR-15 style” rifle and walked back to the living room. He saw the pit bull trying to enter through another open window. Swebilius fired one shot at the dog killing it instantly, a report shows.

The size of the dog, trying to come after his 1-year-old Australian Shepherd, scared Swebilius, so he went for his rifle, he said. Swebilius declined to be specific about the type of rifle he used.

“The dog was pretty big,” Swebilius said. “He was about 90 pounds or more.”

In a 9-1-1 call, Swebilius said that when he turned the lights on, he saw the pit bill and hollered at it.
“It turned around and growled at me,” Swebilius.

“Do you know if it’s dead?” the dispatcher asked Swebilius.

“I shot him with a .243. I am pretty sure he is dead,” Swebilius told the dispatcher.

A deputy contacted the pit bull’s owner, Thomas Motherway, 28.

Motherway said he knew something like this was bound to happen because the dog was extremely aggressive toward other animals, deputies said.

Motherway could not be reached Monday night.

(News Journal Online - Nov 4, 2013)