A New York City neighborhood was rocked Monday when an off-duty Secret Service agent fatally shot a dog wearing a leash. A couple was walking the female Belgian shepherd in Brooklyn's Windsor Terrace residential area when they encountered the unidentified agent around 9:45pm, per the New York Daily News. "The dog charged him," so "he let one round go," police rep Sgt. Mary Frances O'Donnell tells the New York Times, noting the agent reported the shooting and remained at the scene while police arrived. While the Secret Service described "an unrestrained and aggressive canine," the owner had a slightly different take, per the Daily News: "She scared a cop who was walking home," he said of his dog. "He shot her and she's dead."
Seeing the dog's body on the sidewalk "was pretty horrifying, especially since so many of the onlookers were walking their dogs when they stumbled onto the scene," a witness tells the Times. But "the hardest part was watching the owner grieve." She notes police "seemed to be looking to de-escalate the situation and pacify the owner" as "no one was getting arrested or questioned." A law enforcement official tells the Times that the owner wasn't holding the leash and wasn't even in sight when the shooting occurred. The Daily News reports the shooting occurred at a corner. Still, residents were alarmed. "I can't think of any dog that is so menacing that I feel I would need to have a firearm to protect myself," a man who manages a nearby stable tells the Times. (More shooting stories.)
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