Police: Man Shot While Trying to Save Dogs

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “Come in your house and shoot you over a dog?,” says Lanny Smith, father-in-law of the victim. 

Smith says he’s lived on Oakbrook Village Road with his daughter and son-in-law for several years. 

He says the neighborhood is  usually quite, but not Monday. Instead, he says his afternoon nap was interrupted by gunfire. 

“I was upstairs asleep and I heard three shots and when I came downstairs, he was across the street laying on the neighbors porch. He said he got shot in the back,” says Smith

The man Smith is talking about is his son-in-law. Smith says those who shot his son-in-law were trying to steal one of his pit bulls. 

Crandall Sims reporting, “According to police, when the victim saw the suspects allegedly trying to steal one of his dogs, he confronted them and that’s when they shot him.” 

The three pit bulls are kept behind a fence and according to police, they were in the fence at the time of the shooting. 

Police searched the area following the shooting, but no arrests have been made. 

Meanwhile, Smith says the whole thing has him a bit scared. 

“You don’t know who to trust in your neighborhood,” says Smith.

If you have any information about this case, police ask that you call CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-888-CRIME-SC.