An FBI investigation is underway into last week’s lethal shooting of a dog by an FBI agent.
“We have opened an investigation so I’m limited in providing specific details,” Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles, told The Signal Wednesday.
“We open an investigation whenever an agent discharges firearm,” she said.
Late Friday afternoon, an FBI agent was walking his dog on Via Ott near Piazza Di Sarro near Golden Valley Road, when he and his dog were attacked by a pit bull being walked by a woman.
The agent, whose identity has not been disclosed, shot and killed the attacking dog.
“The report indicated that an FBI agent who was walking his dog in Santa Clarita was attacked by another dog that came upon him and his dog,” Eimiller said Wednesday.
“Following altercation, agent discharged weapon resulting in the death of the dog,” she said.
Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station were the first to be dispatched to the call.
“The dog apparently that attacked another dog was a pit bull,” Lt. Chuck Becerra of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station said at the time.
“The pit bull was unleashed,” he said.
Whenever a federal agent discharges a firearm it requires an immediate investigation by other FBI agents, Becerra said.
“There’s a whole protocol whenever a federal agent discharges a firearm,” he said.
At least three FBI agents were on the scene within a half an hour of the shooting.
They paid particular attention to at least one shell casing found on the ground.
An officer with Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control confirmed for The Signal that one dog attacked another dog and that one of the dogs had been shot.
“One of our officers is on the scene,” she said, describing the initial incident as one dog attacking another dog.
“But, we don’t know who shot it,” she said.
The woman who had been walking her dog kept shouting: “The dog is dead. The dog is dead.”
She was also heard saying: “Let me kiss him.”
About 7:30 p.m. Friday, sheriff’s deputies dragged what appeared to be a lifeless pit bull from the backseat of a car.
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