Police: Isanti officer fatally shot aggressive dog

Authorities say an officer shot and killed an aggressive dog over the weekend after responding to a report of a person who’d been bitten by a dog.

Isanti Police said an officer was sent to the 1000 block of Buckskin Street Southeast just after 9 a.m. Saturday after a homeowner said he was working in his garage when a neighbor’s dog bit him.

The man said the dog, a Great Dane, left him with puncture wounds from the bite.

As the officer talked to the victim, police say the officer heard screaming in the 1000 block of Marion Street Southeast. The officer went to check it out, parking his car on Marion Street.

As the officer got out of his squad, a dog ran toward him, barking in an aggressive manner and the officer fell, according to the department. The officer then fired his gun, killing the dog.

Police say that dog was involved in a prior incident and had been designated a “potentially dangerous dog,” and its owners were cited multiple times for their dogs being at large in the past 18 months.

Authorities say the officer was treated for minor injuries, although the department didn’t specify if those came from the dog or the officer’s fall.