Manchester Cop Kills Pit Bull to Thwart Attack Amid Toaster Fire: Update

MANCHESTER, CT — A police officer was forced to kill a pit bull during an attack on local teens, a Manchester Police Department spokesman said.

The incident was at 517 Vernon Street on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., according to a police spokesman. Police released details of the attack on Thursday.

On Wednesday, police responded to the residence for a dog bite complaint. Police were told a pit bull was attacking a teen, according to a report. Police were then told there was possibly a fire in the residence as well, a report indicates.

Officer Joseph Davis was first in the scene and, as he approached the front door he could hear a female screaming for help and a smoke alarm going off, police said. There was a heavy smoke condition in the residence, police said.

Davis located a 14-year-old female sitting on the kitchen counter, screaming that a dog was attacking her friend in the next room. Davis was also able to see that a toaster in the kitchen was on fire, with flames reaching up to the cabinets, according to a report.

Davis told the girl to run outside and, as he was in the kitchen, he heard another female screaming for help and a dog barking from another room, according to a report.

As the officer entered the other room, he observed a large pit bull, which he estimated to weigh approximately 100 pounds, jumping up against a large television stand, which the other 14-year-old female was hiding behind, according to a report.

The girl had blood on her arms and midsection and was screaming that the dog was attacking her, according to a report. There was also blood on the floor, police said.

The officer attempted to call the dog away in an effort to distract it, but it went back toward the girl, police said. He then attempted to call it a second time, at which point the dog ran towards him in an aggressive manner, according to a report.

The officer then discharged his firearm, killing the dog, according to a report.

The girl had puncture wounds "all over" her body that were "actively bleeding," police said.

Davis was then able to get the girl out of the residence, which was still filling with smoke, according to a report.

He handed her off to other officers and helped Officer John Decker and firefighters from the Eighth Utilities District put the fire out, according to a report.

It was later learned that the victims had come home early from school and found the smoke alarm going off and smoke in the house, according to a report. The girls told police the dog appeared agitated and was running around when they arrived home, a report indicates.

At some point, the dog bit one of the girls and then attacked the other when she intervened and tried to pull it away from the first girl, police said.

Photo Credit: MPD