Secret Service agent shoots and kills dog in Brooklyn

Dog was leashed, but apparently 'unrestrained'

Brooklyn corner where dog was reportedly shot (Google Maps Screenshot)

An off-duty Secret Service employee has shot and killed a dog in Brooklyn, officials confirmed.

The shooting reportedly took place on Monday night after the agent said the dog “charged” him, according to a spokesperson for the New York Police Department.

The employee, described as an agent of the government protection force, reportedly fired their weapon just one time at the dog, leaving it dead.

“An off-duty Secret Service employee was involved in the shooting of an unrestrained and aggressive canine in Brooklyn, NY yesterday,” a Tuesday statement by the Secret Service said.

While the statement described the dog as “unrestrained and aggressive”, photos from the scene appeared to show it under a white blanket, with a leash visible and presumably attached to its collar.

The leash was not, however, being held by the owner in the photos.

“She scared a cop who was walking home,” the dog's owner, who was not identified, told the New York Daily News. “He shot her and she’s dead.”

The Secret Service has indicated it is investigating the shooting.

While the government agency is perhaps best known for protecting the president and first family, as well as other prominent politicians and their families, the service also conducts investigations and is tasked with protecting critical infrastructure in the country.

The Secret Service has a field office in downtown Brooklyn, though it is not clear that the agent was stationed there.

The shooting itself occurred in the Windsor Terrace neighbourhood in Brooklyn, which is found to the south of Prospect Park.