A Maryland State Police trooper shot and injured a dog who attacked her in St. Mary's County Wednesday, police said.
The trooper was responding to reports of an unconscious man in the 47000 block of King Drive in Mechanicsville Wednesday morning when she encountered the dog.
The man was lying in the open back door of a residence. When the trooper tried to enter the residence, the dog charged, and she struck it with her baton, police said.
The dog retreated outside, but the trooper could not close the door because of the man, and the dog charged again, police said. This time, the dog pulled the baton from the trooper's hand before biting her foot. The trooper fired her .40-caliber pistol, striking the dog, which fled.
Multiple residents in the area said that they were familiar with the dog and that it had bitten others in the past, police said.
St. Mary's County Animal Control is searching for the wounded animal, and the investigation is still in progress.
