ROANOKE, Va. – Two victims were sent to a hospital today after being attacked in downtown by a white English bull terrier.
The attack occurred on Campbell Avenue in front of Mr. Bill's hair shop after the dog got loose.
One of those victims escaped the dog's clutches and rushed into Total Action for Progress, where Robert Farrar heard a gunshot.
“We heard a lady screaming and the next thing we heard was a guy just screaming; it was god awful. They both had just been mauled by the dog,” Farrar said.
Paul Burek saw it all unfold and rushed to help. He had a gun in his car and shot the dog after everything else failed to stop the attack.
10 News talked exclusively with him about firing two shots at the English bull terrier.
“They pepper sprayed the dog. They beat it with a hammer. Somebody was screaming to shoot it and I, fortunately, had a gun in the car and I went and got my gun and once it pulled away from the people and started walking across the road I shot it,” Burek said.
Wanda Wolfe who owns Mr. Bill's was just inches away from the commotion. She said her partner also tried to intervene.
“He tried to get the man to come in here and the dog then tried to come after Steve, my partner,” Wolfe said. "And another man was trying to fight the dog to keep it from coming in here.”
Witnesses told 10 News they have had interactions with the aggressive dog before.
Burek says he believes he did the right thing.
“Somebody's screaming 'shoot it!' and I thought, concealed carry, somebody around here has got a gun. Fortunately, I had a gun,” Burek said.
The dog survived the gunshots but was later euthanized at Angels of Assisi, because of the severity of its injuries.