East Texas

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

It was heads or tails as to what would happen Monday when two brothers got into a heated exchange about their dogs.

According to Smith County Sheriff’s reports, deputies were dispatched to a location on Farm-to-Market Road 2767 Monday morning after multiple shots were fired.

Lt. Tony Dana told the Tyler Morning Telegraph the incident began when a pit bull owned by one brother attacked the other brother’s dog that was chained.

"The one brother was in his home when he heard his dog making barking and other noises and he went out to see what was going on. When he got outside he saw his brother’s pit bull attacking his dog and he tried to separate the dogs,” he said.

Dana said the man then went back into his house and retrieved a firearm to scare the dog.

“He fired one shot into the ground just to scare the pit bull, but the dog would not stop attacking the other dog,” he said.

Dana said the man then fired one round into the pit bull, but when the dog did not die immediately he fired two more rounds to kill the dog.

That is when the man’s brother came out armed with his own gun.

“He saw that his brother had shot and killed his dog so he began shooting his brother’s truck,” he said.

Deputies arriving on the scene found the two brothers arguing, a dead dog and a damaged pickup, but did not make arrests.

“Neither one wanted to file charges in the case. The one brother certainly had the right to protect his dog from the pit bull, so he didn’t do anything illegal. Basically we cooled them down and separated them for the day."

Dana said, for now, the case is closed.