Man shoots ‘very aggressive’ dog his neighbor sent to attack him, Indiana cops say

An Indiana man shot a “very aggressive” dog that his neighbor is accused of sending to attack him, police said.

Officers responded to a neighborhood on Muncie’s northeast side before 2 p.m. July 15, after receiving a call about gunshots in the area, according to a police report.

Police found 54-year-old Larry Reed angry and “yelling at all of his neighbors,” the report said. Reed told the officer that he was the victim of a hate crime because his neighbor shot his dog.

In the report, the officer said he’d encountered Reed before, as well as “his very aggressive large dogs from previous calls in the past.”

Reed owned several cane corso dogs, the report said.

Cane corsos are a type of mastiff from Italy and are “descended from Molossian war dogs of ancient Rome,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica. They generally weigh around 100 pounds, with a “muscular, stocky physique.”

While Reed said he was the victim, his neighbors told a different story, the report said. Witnesses said Reed was yelling racist slurs at his neighbor, who is Black, and then let one of his dogs loose to attack him. The neighbor shot the dog as it came toward him, causing it to run away and retreat into its cage at Reed’s home, police said.

Officers arrested Reed on a charge of violating a protective order his neighbor had against him, according to police.

He has been charged with invasion of privacy, intimidation with a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon, the report shows.

Police have not commented on the condition of Reed’s dog.

Muncie is a roughly 60-mile drive northeast from Indianapolis.

This story was originally published July 17, 2024 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Man shoots ‘very aggressive’ dog his neighbor sent to attack him, Indiana cops say."