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St. Pete Police Shoot And Kill Pit Bull
News Channel 8 photo by Peter Masa
Officers gather outside a home on 46th Avenue North in St. Petersburg where police shot and killed a pit bull they say bit a child.
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Published: January 4, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG - A St. Petersburg police officer shot and killed a pit bull this afternoon after the dog reportedly bit a child, authorities said.
St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa declined to release many details about the 1 p.m. shooting in the 4600 block of 46th Avenue North. The incident is now being looked at by internal affairs investigators, which is routine, he said.
Kajtsa did say, however, that the animal nipped a boy's pants in the neighborhood before inflicting a puncture wound with a second bite.
Jessica Lee, who owns the pit bull with her boyfriend, said somehow the animal escaped from their backyard. She heard some commotion outside her home at 1810 46th Ave. N. and stepped outside just in time to see her dog Junkie get shot, she said.
Lee said there were three officers and one of them shot the 40-pound dog three times from a distance of about four feet, striking the animal twice in the head. She does not believe the officer would have shot Junkie if Junkie had been a poodle or Labrador, she told WFLA News Channel 8.
News Channel 8 reporter Mark Douglas contributed to this report.
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