Holly MatkinSeattle, WA – The manager of a Seattle apartment complex was arrested on reckless endangerment charges on Friday night after he mistakenly shot a woman while trying to scare off a pack of three pit bulls who were attacking a couple and their small dog, according to police.
The dogs had also allegedly bit the manager and another resident.
The bizarre series of events began at approximately 10:30 p.m. on July 22, when the Seattle Police Department (SPD) received a report that a woman had been bitten by a pack of three dogs at an apartment complex located in the 1000-block of University Street, the department said in a press release.
The victim said she was inside her residence when she heard dogs barking downstairs, so she headed down to make sure they didn’t belong to her friend who lives on a lower level of the building.
She got into the elevator and made her way downstairs, but when the doors opened, she was immediately attacked by three pit bulls, according to police.
The woman, Kendall Anderton, suffered a bite to her arm during the attack, KIRO reported.
“I did the best I could,” Anderton said. “As a dog lover, hurting an animal doesn’t come easy. So, I did my best just to try and kick them off me and get myself in that elevator and get that door closed as quickly as it could.”
“And as someone who owns a pit bull and loves that breed, it was just so sad to see those dogs like that,” she added.
The dogs were back inside their owner’s apartment when police arrived at the scene.
Police tried to make contact with their owner, but received no answer when they knocked on the door, according to the press release.
They were still at the scene when the manager of the apartment complex called 911 about a woman who had been trying to enter other residents’ homes in the building and was “consistently causing disturbances,” the SPD said.
The woman allegedly causing the problems lives next door to the apartment where the pit bulls were located.
Officers attempted to make contact with her, but did not receive any response when they knocked on her door.
Police cleared the scene but were called back just minutes later for multiple reports that a woman had been shot outside the building, the SPD said.
They arrived to find a 37-year-old woman suffering from a gunshot wound to her collarbone area.
Police immediately began rendering first aid before Seattle Fire Department (SFD) medics arrived at the scene and transported the wounded woman to Harborview Medical Center.
Investigators then began speaking with witnesses, to include the building manager.
He was one of many people who called 911 to report the shooting, according to the SPD.
The manager told investigators that shortly after police left the scene, someone again turned the three pit bulls loose in the apartment courtyard, according to the press release.
He said he went to speak with the dogs’ owner, at which point he said he was also attacked by the dogs.
The manager told police he was able to get the dogs out of the courtyard and onto the street, and successfully locked them outside.
That’s when the woman who allegedly was causing disturbances in the building and trying to get into various residences came outside and told him to let the dogs back in, he told police.
When he refused, she left the courtyard and went out onto the street where the pit bulls were located.
The manager said he went back up to his own apartment, but that he soon heard someone screaming outside.
“A couple who had been walking their small dog were now holding it above their heads as the pit bulls jumped on them and tried to attack it,” the SPD said.
The manager grabbed his gun and headed back outside, then fired a “warning shot” into the air, he allegedly told investigators.
“When the dogs did not stop, he fired two more shots toward the dogs, one of which struck the female guest who had accompanied the dogs outside,” the SPD said.
Police seized the 50-year-old manager’s gun as evidence and SFD medics treated his dog bite injuries before officers arrested him on a reckless endangerment charge.
He has since been released from custody, the SPD said.
The dogs’ owner eventually arrived at the building while police were still there.
He said he believed the woman who had been trying to get into people’s apartments was responsible for letting his dogs out “because she had tried his apartment door handle in the past, and likes to play with the dogs when he takes them out,” the SPD said.
The dog owner also allegedly discovered that several hundred dollars in cash and several expensive pairs of shoes he owned were missing from his home.
Investigators made their way to the hospital and interviewed the woman who had been implicated by the dogs’ owner.
“She told officers she had entered the dogs’ apartment to let them out, and had stolen several items,” according to the SPD.
Investigators said that because the suspect was still hospitalized and needed “significant medical treatment” for her gunshot wound, they did not immediately arrest her for residential burglary.
They said they planned to ask prosecutors to pursue charges against her.
