The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said Deputy Monica Bray was defending herself against a dog when she accidently shot her finger.

  • Deputy fired weapon during dog attack last week
  • Accidentally shot her own finger in the process
  • Deputy Monica Bray's body camera video was released

Deputies were sent to a 'homeless camp' Saturday after authorities received a call about a man being mauled by a pitbull.

The sheriff’s office released body worn camera video of the incident. The video is from Deputy Bray. You can hear her call out and whistle when she arrived. Then you hear a dog bark, and begin walking towards her.

She says, “Better stay there brother,” and it attacks.

You can hear the dog growling on top of her and she wrestled it. Two shots were fired. One grazed her finger. The animal died from its injuries.

Jim Ames was there when it happened and is an acquaintance of the dog owner.

“The dog just kept coming, there was nothing you could do," said Ames.

According to Ames, the dog is normally on a leash but investigators say the animal broke its leash when it charged the deputy. He thinks the owner was asleep when the dog got loose.

“If she's sleeping or something like that it's a protect dog, if she's awake or anything it’s the most docile dog," said Ames.

Ames said he hasn’t seen the owner since the incident.

“It really hurt her because it was a rescue dog to begin with and it was her protection in case somebody came in during the night or anything like that."

He said that while he feels sorry for the owner, after seeing the attack firsthand, he isn't sure there was another option.  

“I can't find fault with the Pasco County Sheriff Department at all," said Ames.

The deputy was unavailable for an interview. The sheriff’s office did note she had three pitbulls of her own.

Due to the graphic language and content of the body camera video, Bay News 9 has chosen not to embed the video. However, if you would like to watch the video, you can find it here.