Seattle Building Manager Shoots Burglar Who Freed Attacking Dogs: Cops

SEATTLE — An apartment building manager accidentally shot a woman who police said broke into a Seattle unit and freed three pit pulls that attacked two residents. Both the woman and the manager were arrested, and authorities said the manager fired toward the dogs.

It started around 10:30 p.m. Friday, when police were called for an animal bite at an apartment building on University Street, near Terry Avenue, in the city's First Hill neighborhood.

A female told police she heard barking downstairs and checked to make sure they didn't belong to a friend who lived on a lower level. As she stepped off the elevator, three pit bulls attacked, biting her on the arm.

When police officers arrived, the dogs were back in their apartment. The officers knocked on the door and tried to speak to the owner, but no one answered.

The building manager called 911 and asked police to contact a long-term guest who lived in a unit neighboring the dogs. Police said the woman regularly caused disturbances in the building and was known to try to open door handles of other units. Police tried to contact her at the apartment she was living in, but no one answered.

Within minutes of the officers leaving, they were called back for a report that a woman was shot.

Outside the building, they found a 37-year-old woman with a gunshot wound near her collarbone. Police gave her first aid and medics rushed her to a hospital.

The building manager told investigators that after the officers left, the dogs got out into the building’s courtyard. When the manager tried to talk to the dogs' owner, they attacked. He got the dogs to the street and closed the door behind them.

The female guest whom the manager called about earlier was also in the courtyard. She asked him to let the dogs back in. He said no, and she went outside with the dogs.

The manager returned to his unit, but soon heard screams outside. A couple walking their small dog held it above their heads to protect it from the attacking pit bulls, who jumped on them. The manager told police he took his gun outside and fired into the air. He fired two more shots toward the dogs when they didn't stop, one of which hit the female guest.

Medics treated the manager’s dog bites and police arrested him on reckless endangerment charges. He was later released.

The owner of the pit bulls showed police three crates he kept his dogs in while he's away. The owner said they couldn't have escaped their crates — and apartment — without being let out. He suspected the woman living next door freed his dogs, as she'd tried to open his apartment door in the past and liked to play with them when took them outside. The resident also noticed several pricey pairs of shoes and several hundred dollars were missing from his unit.

At the hospital, the woman who was shot told police she broke into the unit, stole several items and let the dogs out of the apartment. She faces residential burglary charges once she's released from the hospital.