Fox Lane Sheffield: Dog ‘shot by police gunmen after attacking owner’ say residents

Residents living near the fields behind Hollinsend Cricket Club, Fox Lane, near the Birley estate, told how armed officers arrived on the scene this afternoon – and described hearing gunshots.

A section of ground in a wooded part of the park, near a school, remained sealed off with blue and white police tape this evening as darkness fell, and a police car remained on the scene, with officers inside and its headlamps on.

One nearby resident told the Star he saw a large number of police cars arriving at the park, known locally as The Cowie, mid afternoon today. He said: “There were lots of sirens, and at least 10 cars. I saw armed police behind officers with shields walking across the fields, and it looked as though they were trying to do some sort of containment. The armed officers looked as though they had shotguns.

Police on Thornbridge Drive

"They swept through the park, and there were paramedics there as well. I heard what I thought was one shot, and then it went quiet. Two minutes later, they jumped in their police cars and went round to Thornbridge Drive, and my friend told me they appeared there. He said he thought he heard two shots, and then another two.”

He said he had been told that a dog had attacked its owner, who was taken to hospital with her injuries. He had heard the dog described as a mastiff. Police were still on the scene when children were making their way home from nearby schools. It is understood some shocked youngsters had to find alternative routes home because of the police cordon.

Dogs near Hollinsend Cricket Club pavilion

Another nearby resident said she saw lots of officers arriving on the scene during ‘mid afternoon’. She described seeing people with dogs providing statements to police officers near the Hollinsend Cricket Club pavilion.

Another local resident and dog owner described seeing police cars heading up the road.

South Yorkshire Police and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service have been approached for comment and more details of the incident.