METHUEN — Matthew Reppucci was walking into his Linton Avenue yard when his neighbor's pit bull named Diesel jumped on him a few times and then bit him in the forearm.
So Reppucci pulled out his Colt .380 and shot the dog.
"The dog ran off," said patrol commander Capt. Randy Haggar. "It looks like the dog is going to live."
Haggar said Reppucci was licensed to possess the weapon.
He said that Reppucci agreed to turn over his pistol and a rifle and his gun license during the course of the investigation.
"That is standard procedure," Haggar said.
The owner of the dog, David Guzman, of 9 Linton Ave. second floor, rushed Diesel to Salem Animal Hospital where he was treated for a single gunshot wound to the right side of his chest.
At the scene, Josh Guzman, 33, brother of Diesel's owner called the incident with the dog a "fluke. He's a puppy. He's not even 2 years old."
"I was on the Internet and my cousin was making breakfast. I heard a shot but I didn't think anything of it. The next thing I knew the dog was coming upstairs bleeding," Josh Guzman said.
He said his sister and her children live on the first floor and they have had dogs for about 2 1/2 years.
"We've got kids," Josh Guzman said. "We don't put nobody in danger."
He said their dogs were well-trained and cared for, and that such an incident would not happen again.
"I am surprised it happened now," Josh Guzman said.
Haggar said Reppucci likely would not face any charges in connection with the incident.
"I don't believe at this time there will be any charges," Haggar said. "But we are going to review the case in its entirety before we make a final decision."
Reppucci did not respond to a knock on his door after the incident.
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