Las Vegas police officer shoots at charging dog

A Las Vegas officer shot at a “pit bull style” dog after it charged at police Wednesday morning as they investigated reports of two armed men at a business complex in the Spring Valley area.

Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived just after 9:10 a.m. at the complex at 9680 W. Tropicana Ave., between South Grand Canyon Drive and Fort Apache Road. There, they found two men who matched the descriptions given by 911 callers.

At a media briefing midday Wednesday, Lt. Adrian Beas said that one of the two men was immediately taken into custody, but the other took off running and jumped over a wall. At the same time, the unleashed dog charged at police and tried to bite an officer’s leg, instead grabbing hold of the officer’s pants, Beas said.

Another officer then shot at least one round “to stop the dog,” which ran away but was later found.

Clark County animal control has taken custody of the unharmed animal, which was wearing a green harness and purple leash. County spokesman Dan Kulin said the dog was taken to a local shelter, although it wasn’t immediately clear whether the dog would be put up for adoption or put down.

The man who jumped over the wall also was taken into custody as of noon Wednesday. It was not clear what charges, if any, the men will face.

Wednesday’s shooting comes nearly a month after another officer had shot and killed a family dog while knocking on doors on the 2200 block of Cascade Street during a fatal crash investigation.

The dog, Marley, was a pit bull.

This month, the family announced through their lawyer, Andre Lagomarsino, that they were considering a lawsuit against Metro. They would decide within 30 days after Metro has completed its internal investigation into the July 27 shooting.

“The family is extremely distraught,” Lagomarsino said at the time. “They feel traumatized at that house now.”

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.