The Region : Officer, Biting Dog Shot

A police officer investigating a neighborhood dispute in South-Central Los Angeles was bitten on the leg by an attack dog and shot in the foot by his partner. Lt. Charles Higbie said Officers Russell A. Freeman and Samuel Ward were leaving a house in the 400 block of West 83rd Street where they had confiscated a handgun and a shotgun belonging to one of the participants in the dispute when an attack dog belonging to the other participant broke free from its leash and bit Freeman on the left leg and right thigh. Ward drew his service revolver and fired three rounds, fatally wounding the dog, Higbie said, but as the rounds were being fired, one either ricochetted or went through the animal’s body and hit Freeman in the right foot. Freeman was taken to Daniel Freeman Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, where he was reported in good condition after treatment for dog bites and the gunshot wound.