WASHINGTON — Authorities say they are investigating an incident in which a federal agent walking his dog shot and killed another dog in a park in Glen Burnie, Md.
According to a report by WMAR-TV, an FBI agent fatally shot a Great Dane after the dog broke free from a grandmother walking the dog Friday morning at a footbridge near Hopkins Corner.
Carol Feldhaus told the television station that she was walking to the footbridge with the five-year-old dog named Flynn, which is her daughter’s family dog. She was walking with her four-year-old grandson, who witnessed the entire incident. According to the woman, she approached the narrow footbridge and saw the man on the other side, walking his own dog.
She yelled to let the three pass, but the man started across anyway. The Great Dane leaped at the little dog, dragging Feldhaus down. Flynn attacked the little dog and as Feldhaus lay on the ground, she heard shots ring out, she told the television station.
“Next thing I heard was bam-bam! And I’m half way up and the dog just walks to me and drops and there’s blood everywhere. I was in shock and I said ‘you shot the dog?’ And he said he was an undercover cop and he was protecting his dog.”
FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson said in a statement that the FBI is working jointly with the Anne Arundel County Police Department to investigate the incident.
There was an FBI Agent involved in an incident in Glen Burnie this morning. Initial information is that an approximately 180 pound dog broke free from the woman walking it along a footpath near Hopkins Corner and attacked a much smaller dog. An Agent shot and killed the larger dog. No one else was hurt. We are working jointly with Anne Arundel County PD, as well as the Inspection Division from FBI Headquarters to investigate. This is an ongoing matter, and will have more information as soon as we gather more details.
Feldaus acknowledged that Flynn had hurt the little dog, but Flynn’s owner Amanda Ericson said he never attacked a dog before and was possibly acting protective of her 4-year-old son.
“Kick dogs or pull them apart but to shoot them right in front of my mother,” she began, adding, “my mom and my son need therapy. My mom feels like she was almost shot. My son saw my dog get shot while my mother was laying on the ground.”
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