Fort Worth Man Shoots, Kills Neighbor's Dogs
Katherine Blake FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
A North Texas family is mourning the loss of two of their pets. The nine-month-old pit bulls were shot and killed by a neighbor who says it was self defense.
The shooting happened in a neighborhood off Ten Mile Bridge Road in northwest Fort Worth. The neighbors never had any problems before. But that all changed over the weekend. The man who pulled the trigger says he didn't have any choice. But the dogs' owners disagree.
Kristopher Harrison has a six-year-old daughter. He says that's why he was upset when two pit bulls wandered into his backyard Saturday afternoon. Harrison says he told his next door neighbors, if it happened again, he would shoot the dogs. And that's exactly what he did around 4 a.m. Sunday morning.
Harrison says he and a friend were taking a break from watching the Olympics when the nine-month-old dog named 'Scarface' crawled under the fence. Harrison had his shotgun with him, so he says he shot the dog and the dog's sister, 'Lady'. "I wish he just would have went in the house and would have came and told me instead of retaliating that way," dog owner Shaylen Ross said.
One of the animals was found dead in Harrison's backyard. The other was found dead in its own backyard. (the dog was shot in the residents backyard and then ran back through the hole to the owners yard).
"He was showing his teeth, growling and he was coming at me," Harrison explained. "The second dog, I didn't know. I didn't think I was going to have to shoot him, because he seemed a little hesitant. But then he looked at the hole in the fence. I thought he was going to go back under, then he turned around and started coming at me and that's when I shot him."
Fort Worth Police are reviewing the case, but they say if the dogs were in the neighbor's yard when they were shot it's unlikely that any charges will be filed.
The PD said that other neighbors have filed complaints about the same dogs charging after them...so it's not like the owner didn't know the dogs needed to be kept strictly confined to his backyard. I'd hate to be the neighbor that shot the dogs for fear of retaliation from the neighbor who doesn't feel he was justified in shooting them after he'd been warned that if it happened again he would shoot them. I guess he didn't think he was serious.
