A teenager narrowly escaped a pit bull attack outside a San Diego Police Department shooting range in Fairmont Park Wednesday night.
According to SDPD Lt. Sandra Albrektsen, a 17-year-old male was walking his dogs past the SDPD firing range near Home Avenue and Federal Boulevard around 7:10 p.m. when he spotted two stray pit bulls lingering nearby.
When the teen attempted to cross the street with his dogs, the pit bulls ran "full speed" toward him, Lt. Albrektsen said.
Officers inside the firing range heard barking and saw the attack about to unfold. They quickly intervened by shooting both pit bulls in front of the range.
One dog went down immediately, while the other ran toward 47th Street and Ridgeview, Albrektsen said. Police chased the second pit bull on foot for about 10 minutes until they were able to take the injured dog into custody.
Albrektsen said both pit bulls were still alive when Animal Control hauled them away from the scene. No further information was released about the dogs or their possible owner.
Albrektsen said it was unfortunate police had to shoot the pit bulls but it was done for the safety of the teenager, who lives about a block from the firing range.
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“We’re all animal lovers, we love animals We don’t want to shoot anyone’s animal. But unfortunately, when animals get that pack mentality, and especially with an animal such as these – and they were very aggressive – you know, things happen,” said Albrektsen.
“Unfortunately, we had to shoot in order to protect human life over the animal’s life. Luckily for the boy, officers were here to intervene. That could’ve been incredibly dangerous for 17-year-old boy just trying to walk his dogs at night,” she added.
