Man attacked and killed by own dog, police shoot animal

Thank you. Developing tonight in St. Petersburg, a man was apparently attacked by his own dog in the middle of the street and killed. It happened last night on Quincy Street. Officers responded to the scene and were forced to shoot the dog to try to save the man. FOX 13's Brianna Arradondo has the latest on the investigation. What police say happened here on this block was tragic and gruesome. They say that when first responders arrived to try to help the man, the dog wouldn't let them, instead attacking the victim again. St. Pete police say they were called Wednesday night to Quincy Street South about an injured man, but they did not know what happened yet. When first responders arrived, they found a man in the middle of the road heavily bleeding from his neck and a pit bull mixed dog on a leash sitting by his side. Rescue workers tried to get close to the man to help him, but police say the dog got agitated and started tearing into the man's arm. Animal control was on the way with the catch pole, but officers say the man's life was at stake and they could not wait. So officers shot and killed the dog to stop it from attacking any further. He was already clearly gravely injured and they didn't want the dog to cause more injury. So they thought there might be a chance a man might still be alive at that point. He was unresponsive, but that was their sole recourse is to go ahead and remove the dog. any means they could. We could not definitively say that the dog had attacked the man until this morning. The preliminary findings of the autopsy were that the dog viciously attacked the man's neck and shoulder and that these bites were life-threatening. Police say now they've learned that the man was out walking his dog when it attacked and killed him, so they ruled out anything suspicious. St. Pete police say that they're still gathering more video evidence but they know that there's no signs of anyone else being involved and there was no foul play. They are still waiting on the medical examiner to finish their report. Reporting in St. Petersburg, Brianna Arredondo, Fox 13 News.