Police Kill Pit Bull That Attacked Woman

Two police officers shot and killed a pit bull near a North Hollywood apartment complex after the dog attacked a woman who lived with the dog’s owner, Los Angeles police said.

Officers Barbara Neff, 30, and Marcus Torres, 20, fired three shots at the dog as it charged them in a driveway Thursday morning, police said.

The officers had been called to a domestic dispute in an apartment in the 4900 block of Tujunga Avenue near Morrison Street in North Hollywood, police said. The officers accompanied the apartment’s resident, Lori Jo Brien, 34, as she collected her things to leave after a fight with her boyfriend, Paul Carnall, 33, who had left the apartment, said Officer Linda Murphy. The officers noticed a pit bull, owned by Carnall, in one room of the home, police said.

The officers returned less than an hour later and found Brien bleeding outside the apartment, police said. Brien, who was treated at North Hollywood Medical Center for facial lacerations, said she had been bitten several times by the dog when she returned to gather more of her belongings, Murphy said.

Police found the dog in a driveway about a block away and tried to corner it until animal control officers arrived, Murphy said. When the animal charged, they both fired.

The officers feared the dog would attack pedestrians across the street in North Hollywood Park, which was filled with early morning joggers, Murphy said.

Carnall, who was later arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession, told police he had owned the dog only three weeks, Murphy said.