Police shoot dog outside Elgin fire station

An Elgin pit bull was shot by police Wednesday after storming fire station 7, according to officials.

Police Lt. Dan O'Shea said fire department personnel were outside when a dog ran up from across the street and chased them inside. Another pit bull mix showed up a few minutes later, acting similarly, which prompted firefighters to call the police, O'Shea said.

When police arrived shortly after 1 p.m. at the station, 3270 Longcommon Parkway, one of the dogs tried to attack an officer, according to O'Shea.

“We truly never want to shoot an animal, much less someone's dog or any kind of pet,” O'Shea said. “However, if an officer is going to be bit, he has to take appropriate actions.”

The dog was wounded by the gunshot and later taken to a South Elgin animal hospital.

The dogs' owner lives in the 9N600 block of Water Road. The owner, whose name was not available Thursday morning, was cited and will have to appear in animal control court in July. Elgin police wrote five citations for each dog because of their behavior and for being at large.

Kane County Animal Control also responded to the scene because the dogs live outside the Elgin city limits.

More than a dozen dogs have been shot by Elgin police since 2010.

Daily Herald Staff Writer Jessica Cilella contributed to this report.