Alan Ryerson holds his injured dog, a 5-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback named Nike Swoosh. The dog was killed Wednesday after being shot by a Lisbon Police officer.

LISBON — Police said an officer shot a dog after it bit him on the legs and hand early Wednesday morning.

Chief Marc Hagan wrote in a news release that Officer Andrew Levesque was at 2 Claire Drive at 2:43 a.m. responding to a well-being check on a female juvenile.

Levesque knocked on the front door and could hear an “aggressive” dog inside the home. The homeowner opened the door while holding the dog’s collar, but the dog “immediately pulled away” from the homeowner and “charged” Levesque.

During an earlier call to the home that morning, officers noted the dog had been put in a secure room.

The dog bit the officer’s hand and he kicked the dog, who released his bite.

Levesque jumped off the front stairs to the home and shouted to the homeowner to control his dog. The homeowner tried to grab the dog’s collar, but failed. The dog lunged at the officer, biting him in the thigh. Levesque kicked the dog, who let go. But the dog lunged again, biting the officer’s other thigh, Hagan wrote.

Levesque fought off the animal, unholstered his handgun and shot three rounds into the dog, according to the news release.

The dog retreated to a nearby car, then fled the property.

Shortly after 7 a.m., the 5-year-old Staffordshire Terrier (pit bull mix) was found and taken to a nearby veterinary hospital where it was euthanized due to the severity of the gunshot wounds.

Hagan wrote that police had summonsed Vernon Hamilton, 70, of 2 Claire Drive earlier this month for: keeping an unlicensed dog; failure to vaccinate a dog; and allowing a dog to be at large. The summonses were issued as a result of an investigation of the same dog who had reportedly attacked a neighbor’s dog and had acted aggressively toward that dog’s owner.

Hamilton told police the dog was owned by his 22-year-old grandson.

The Sun Journal has spoken with the dog’s owner and this story will be updated.