Girard cop shoots pit bull that reportedly attacked people, killed other dog

Staff report

GIRARD

Police shot a pit bull Tuesday evening after they said the dog attacked people and killed another dog.

Officers responded shortly before 6 p.m. to a report of a vicious dog running loose in the area of the 400 block of Illinois Avenue.

When officers arrived, they heard screaming as multiple people tried to contain an errant pit bull.

Neighbors told police the pit bull had killed their Yorkshire Terrier. According to a police report, a woman suffered a bite to her hand as she tried to grab at the two dogs. The pit bill also reportedly bit a man in the face and knocked him to the ground. The man was transported to ValleyCare Northside Medical Center in Youngstown.

Sgt. John Freeman wrote in a report he attempted to keep the dog from hurting others and asked Trumbull County dispatch to contact the county dog warden.

The report states the dog’s owner was concerned the dog would attack someone else and asked Freeman to euthanize the animal.

Freeman shot and killed the dog with his service handgun in a wooded area near Iowa Avenue and state Routes 711 and 11.

As of Wednesday afternoon, charges were pending against the dog’s owners.