A beagle suffered a shattered jaw after a mystery shooter opened fire on its own yard in front of his terrified owner who also was hit.
The unidentified sniper sprayed a series of bullets toward Copper and pet parent Tiffany Noel at her Lancaster County property in South Carolina on October 20.
Tiffany had let Copper outside around 10pm as a part of his nightly routine, but the situation took a dreadful turn when Tiffany heard Copper howling in agony from her doorbell camera.
As she rushed outside to check on him, she jumped back and screamed as a bullet grazed against her arm. She then grabbed her beloved beagle and ran back inside to call 911 as more gunshots were fired.
‘All of a sudden I hear a ton of loud noise,’ Tiffany recalled to WSOC-TV. ‘So, I ran. I was like, “My dog has got to be scared to death.” I ran to the door and opened it, and he’s like screaming.’
‘You can’t expect these kinds of things. No one can prepare for that,’ Tiffany told WSOC-TV.
Tiffany said she was alright after being shot at, but the right side of Copper’s jaw was completely shattered.
Shots also struck Tiffany’s car and home, leaving bullet holes.
Tiffany’s friend Kara Kline wrote in a GoFundMe post: ‘Copper lost a lot of blood but was rushed to the emergency vet, where he was sedated.
‘They found that the bullet had gone into his upper right lip — his teeth proximal to his first molar were all knocked out, the bullet punctured his tongue, exited the left side of his neck, and his jaw was fractured.’
‘When he opens his mouth, you can hear the bones kind of rattling around in there,’ Tiffany said to WSCO-TV.
Metal pins were placed inside Copper’s mouth to stabilize his jaw and his tongue needed stitches, costing Tiffany over $3,000 for his care.
Now, the vocal and energetic dog must wear a cone and muzzle while recovering from his excruciating injuries.
According to the GoFundMe, Copper’s recovery should take about two months.
For the shell-shocked owner, not only has the shooting’s aftermath been ‘a lot’ financially, but she feels frightened and ‘traumatized’ inside her own home.
The Lancaster Police Department is still looking for the shooter and investigating the incident.
They have speculated this event may be connected to gang violence in the neighborhood, WSOC-TV reported.
Before the gunshots, Tiffany said she heard people arguing from far away.
Authorities have offered $20,000 for a tip that leads to an arrest.
Copper’s shooting came just about a month after a Kentucky cat ended up dead after a disgruntled neighbor shot him for leaving pawprints on his vehicles.
Georgetown resident Christopher Jones, 54, fired his gun at Kristin Bradenburg’s cat named Gray Baby on September 22 for being on his property and climbing on his cars.
The heartbroken owner rushed took Gray Baby to the vet, but it was too late. There was nothing to be done except to euthanize him.
Police showed up to Jones’ house to interrogate him about the incident on the next day.
He admitted to shooting Gray Baby and he claimed the cat was on his property, being a ‘nuisance,’ according to court documents.