TEXARKANA, Texas -- A police officer is in surgery after a dog attack Friday night on Wilson Street.
A woman was also attacked and taken to a local hospital for her injuries, Texarkana Texas Police Spokesman Shawn Vaughn said Friday.
Police were called to the 700 block of Wilson Street late Friday about dogs that had attacked a woman. When Officer Chris Flores got out of his car and started walking toward the house, two large pit bull-mix dogs charged him, Vaughn said. Flores was able to hit one with his flashlight but was quickly overwhelmed by their attack. The dogs knocked Flores to the ground and continued to maul him until Officer Matthew Lindsey arrived shorty afterwards.
Lindsey was afraid that he couldn't shoot the dogs without hitting Flores, but was able to stop the attack by spraying them with his fire extinguisher, Vaughn said. Realizing that Flores' wounds were serious, Officer Jose Chavez quickly loaded him into a patrol unit and took him to the hospital.
Officers later had to shoot one of the dogs when it charged an animal control officer who came to catch them. The shot didn't kill the dog but did disable it enough that they were then able catch it. The second dog was captured without incident, Vaughn said.
Flores suffered serious injuries to both arms that included bites which resulted in muscle damage on one arm and 23 lacerations on the other.
This is a developing story.