SAN ANTONIO — Two dogs are dead and another is recovering from two gunshot wounds after a tragic confrontation in a northwest neighborhood.
Amanda Harris, who lost her one-year-old dog, "Dutch," in the incident said of the San Antonio police officer who fired the fatal shots, "We all lost. He lost. We lost. The Police department lost their K-9. I feel like there are other avenues he could have tried."
Harris said she was in her kitchen cooking during the noon hour Saturday when she heard a woman screaming next door on Lands Point Street.
"I hollered for my husband and I said 'Hey go outside! I heard the lady scream.'" Harris said, adding "He ran over there and we seen two panels of their fence was laying on their side."
Harris said when her husband realized their two dogs had made their way into the neighbor's yard, he tried to get them to return.
"My husband went over there and started telling our dogs 'Come back. Come back!' and then my husband jumped back because shots were fired," Harris said.
San Antonio Police said the shots were fired by an off-duty officer, who is assigned as a K-9 handler.
The officer said when his neighbor's dogs broke through the fence and attacked his K-9, he attempted to separate the dogs but was unsuccessful, so he fired multiple rounds to stop the attack.
Harris said "Pearl," who is more than 10-years-old, was shot twice and managed to return to her own yard, however Dutch didn't survive.
"Our little puppy was laying on the ground shot. He was dead," Harris said, adding they rushed Pearl for emergency treatment and they're hoping she recovers.
"She has two wounds in her chest and she is still touch and go. They're not sure about damage to her lungs. We're just going to hope for the best," Harris said.
San Antonio Police said the officer's K-9 was also hit by gunfire and even though the dog was immediately rushed to a clinic for care, it also succumbed to injuries.
Harris, who said they had just moved into the house in the first week of September, said they didn't realize the fence separating the two yards was not secure.
Mourning the loss and regretful over the incident, Harris said she wants to see video of the attack the city claims to have.
"We're requesting the video that they say they have. We have not seen anything. Our dogs do not have any marks like they had been in a dog fight. No scratches. Nothing," Harris claims, adding the only injury she saw to the dogs was made by bullet wounds.
Harris said the whole incident was over quickly adding, "There was no hollering from them other than the wife's scream, before we heard the gunshot. There was no 'Stop! Get away.' Nothing. So we are waiting to know what really happened."
"From the time she screamed until my husband ran over there and there were shots fired, there wasn't a lot of time to separate them," Harris said. "I just wish it would have turned out different. We are neighbors."
Harris said the family received a total of three citations related to the incident, but a spokesman with Animal Care Services said three more violations are in process.
They include destruction of property, having the dogs free from restraint and failure to prevent a bite for each of the dogs who left their own backyard.
In addition to the investigation by ACS, the SAPD Shooting Team and Internal Affairs Unit will conduct separate but concurrent investigations into this incident and the officer has been placed on Administrative Duty. The initial report indicates the officer has been with the department 16 years.
There's no word on how long the investigation might take.