A pit bull that had been on the run for three weeks was killed by police yesterday outside a daycare center on Long Island. The pit bull is believed to be the same one who mauled a North Merrick woman after she exercised outside a senior center near her home Sept. 29. Newsday reports (paywall) that Shashi Sharma, 62, was attacked by a female pit bull and her mate, and needed three separate surgeries to repair torn flesh and shredded muscle in all four of her limbs.
Sharma called 911 during the mauling, and police shot and killed the male. But the female escaped, and had been spotted repeatedly during the past three weeks, most recently yesterday a few miles from the attack, near the Southern State Parkway. A helicopter was dispatched, and cops tracked the dog as it ran in and out of backyards. It was finally gunned down outside a preschool yesterday afternoon.
"It's been on the run, it's angry, it's probably hungry," Detective Lt. Kevin Smith told NBC New York at the scene. "All caution was used at this location in trying to subdue the dog, but when the dog turned toward the officers, they were forced to fire." The owner of the dog, who has not been identified, has been called in to identify it, but investigators believe it's the same pit bull who maimed Sharma. Here's Newsday's video segment produced the day of the attack:
