With crossbow, 'Good Samaritan' accidentally kills man he was trying to save from 2 pit bulls' attack

A man in Massachusetts who was being attacked by two pit bulls was then accidentally shot to death by a crossbow-wielding neighbor — who was trying to help. The tragic incident happened Wednesday afternoon.

The man’s death is considered accidental at this time.

The DA’s Office describes the neighbor who shot him as a “good Samaritan” who was trying to stop a mauling in progress. He is working with authorities.

Excerpt from local TV news:

According to DA Andrea Harrington’s Office, Adams Police were called to 19 Bellevue Avenue around just after 12 p.m., for a reported mauling in progress. Officers and a K9 Unit arrived at an apartment to find two mature pit bulls, engaging in a “volatile confrontation.”

The two dogs then turned their attack onto the officers, who ended up using their department-issued weapon to kill the animals. Police then found a man with a crossbow injury, dead inside the apartment and a child in a nearby room unharmed. The man’s name has not been released.

Investigators believe the neighbor heard the commotion inside the apartment, called police and then entered the apartment in hopes of saving the man. Police say the neighbor got a crossbow and shot it at the dogs, that one arrow struck one dog, went through a door, and struck the man who was being mauled.

[via WWLP]