A man says he was simply trying to see his neighbor as a dog attacked her. But as he rushed to her aid, there was a terrible accident.
Related: Neighbor trying to save Detroit woman from dog mauling accidentally shoots, kills her
He shot and killed his friend, not the dog.
Patricia Cosby was 53-years-old, a mom and a friend to many in the neighborhood - even the person who accidentally took her life.
Her family is in shock.
Police say Patricia was attacked by a dog on Goodwin Street near Westminster.
Patricia Cosby’s stepmom spent the day remembering Patricia and thinking about her son who has special needs and lives in a group home.
“We don’t know how to tell him,” Louisa Matthews said. “He love his mother and his mother love him. And, I just don’t know, it hurt so bad.
Patricia reportedly yelled to her friend and neighbor Michael Williams for help.
“I was just trying to do what she asked me to do, to help her,” he said.
Michael is known for always trying to help. He spends time volunteering to do neighborhood patrols. He has a CPL - and ran to Patricia.
“I just did all I could to try to help her. She begged me to help her and I ran down trying to help her. And this dog trying to attack, attack, attack – ‘til I found my left hand and the gun went off. And she said Mike you shot me. And I picked her up. It just hurt me so bad.
Patricia was rushed to the hospital - where she died.
“He was trying to help her and if that is the way it went down, I wouldn’t want press no charges. He was trying to save her.”
Patricia’s dad says he wants the city to take more action to address the stray dog problem in honor of his daughter.
“I want them to catch all the dogs. There is a lot of loose dogs in that area I was told. She was a beautiful lady… a beautiful lady.”
Police tell me the dog has still not been caught. They do not know if it belongs to anyone - or simply lived on the streets.
They describe it as brown. The breed is unknown. Police say it could be a mutt, or possibly a pit bull, according to witnesses.
They want to find that dog.
Police are working to gather all of the information and send it over to the prosecutor’s office for review. They have not said if Mr. Williams will face charges for accidentally shooting his neighbor.
