Woman Shot After Breaking Into Seattle Apartment, Releasing 3 Dogs

A woman was reportedly shot after she broke into a Seattle apartment and released three dogs inside the unit, KOMO reports.

The wild incident went down Friday night (July 22) at an apartment building in the 1000 block of University Street, according to the Seattle Police Department on Saturday (July 23). A woman called 911 to report she was bitten by a dog while checking to see if a friend's dog was barking downstairs. By the time police arrived, the dogs went back to their apartment unit. On top of that, cops say they couldn't contact neither the dogs' owner or the woman.

The 50-year-old building manager told officers, however, that there was a "long-term guest" living next to the dogs' apartment causing problems with other residents. He even says she regularly tries getting into other tenants' units.

Police left the property but got another call a few minutes later over a shooting at the apartment. Authorities say they found a 37-year-old woman with a gunshot wound near her collarbone.

The manager told cops the dogs broke out again shortly after they left and attacked him. He managed to get the dogs outside, but the woman police were looking for earlier asked the manager to let the dogs back in. He reportedly refused, according to Seattle Police.

Later on, the manager reportedly spotted a couple on the sidewalk holding up their pet as the dogs tried to attack it. Police say the manager grabbed his gun and fired in the air to scare off the dogs. When that didn't work, he fired two shots at the aggressive animals but ended up hitting the woman.

The owner of the three dogs came home explained to officers he keeps his dogs inside crates when he's away. He says it's not possible for them to escape the apartment, meaning someone let them out.

This leads back to the 37-year-old woman, who confessed to breaking into the owner's apartment and freeing the dogs, according to police. She also admitted to stealing several items from the apartment.

Officers say she will be arrested for residential burglary once she's released from the hospital. As for the building manager, he was treated for his dog bite and charged with reckless endangerment.