Auburn officer shoots dog running toward him after 11-year-old girl was bitten
Auburn officer shoots dog running toward him after 11-year-old girl was bitten
An investigation is underway after an 11-year-old girl was bitten by a dog in Western Washington. A responding officer shot the dog as two of them ran towards him.
AUBURN, Wash. - An investigation is underway after an 11-year-old girl was bitten by a dog in Western Washington.
This happened May 13 on "C" St. SW in Auburn when two dogs escaped from their home.
Surveillance video from the girl's home captured the incident. The video shows the 11-year-old defending herself from one of the dogs using a broom.
"When it happened, I was really scared, and I kinda had to think quick on how to protect myself," said Maryana, the 11-year-old girl bit by the dog. She and her father spoke to FOX 13 News, but did not want to use their last name.
Maryana's father, Matthew, says he was at work when the incident happened but saw the whole thing on the surveillance camera.
"I’m trying to see her live, you know. It was just a helpless feeling, you know. Because all I could do was just sit there and watch," said Matthew.
The video shows the dog snap at the broom. Then, the dog bites the girl's arm.
"I’m just glad my daughter is here and fine and she’s alive, you know. It could have been a lot worse. I know dogs are violent and that dog didn’t attack aggressively. The dog didn’t keep going it stopped. It stopped," said Matthew.
Auburn Police told FOX 13 News that as officers were responding, they also had an encounter with the dog.
Two violent dog attacks in Seattle in less than a week
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One of the dogs was shot and killed. The body camera footage of the officer shows one of the dogs coming at them.
Police say the officer shot the dog to stop the threat and protect himself.
Matthew says he's never had issues with his neighbor's dogs before and wishes the situation ended differently.
"I asked my daughter how she felt, you know, about the dogs, about what happened. And she just said that she didn’t want anybody to kill those dogs, you know. Because she hears dogs get shot when they bite somebody, and cause she said she's seen those dogs grow up, and even knows their names."
FOX 13 News spoke to the owner of the dogs off-camera. He tells us the dogs were locked in the backyard behind a fence that even has a chain around it.
He says the dog that was killed had just turned one-year-old. He says neither of his dogs have ever acted aggressively before. The owner says the dogs were always around his family and children.
He says he wants to apologize to the family and to the Auburn Police Department about the incident.