By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK — Video shows an NYPD officer shooting a lunging pit bull Monday.
A witness to the incident said the dog snapped at a woman before turning on police.
Johnny Rodriguez, who was nearby the East Village street where it happened, said police were alerted to the dog because its owner was lying on the ground and bystanders thought it might get hit by a car.
As police approached the man, Rodriguez said, the dog grabbed at a woman’s pants and then lunged at an officer, who fired his weapon.
“It’s a tragedy, but I may have done the same thing that the cop did,” Rodriguez said. “If you got a pit bull coming at you, I don’t know if you stand there and get bit or use your gun.”
The dog is being treated at the nearby Animal Care & Control facility.