Police shot and killed a pit bull in East Harlem on Friday. Because many witnesses saw it bite several people.
At around 5:45 pm that day, two officers from the NYPD Housing Bureau were on patrol. They received a call about an off-leash dog near 300 East 115th Street.
When they arrived, they found the pit bull attacking a 9-year-old girl. The girl's mother and another passerby were trying to save the girl from the dog attack. The dog then attacked the girl's mother, passers-by and one of the police officers. Seeing the situation, another policeman lost control of the situation, pulled out his gun and shot the dog to death on the spot.
Both the girl and her mother were seriously injured, but not fatally. They were then sent to Harlem Hospital Center for treatment. A police officer was bitten and was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
The brave passerby was not injured. A witness said: "The dog bit the little girl for a while. The man tried to stop it. The dog then attacked him. There were screams at the scene for eight minutes." The police did not find the owner of the dog until Friday night. No one has been arrested.