A Prince William county man openly admits he shot at a neighborhood dog in front of other neighbors. Some of those neighbors say they support the man’s actions.

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The 59-year-old man says he did it to protect neighborhood children and some kittens. He admits firing the gun in the 4600 block of Whittaker Place in Woodbridge but he says he intentionally missed the dog.

“This dog had been attacking animals and I was afraid it was going to attack kids,” Paul Ovellette said.

Ovellette is a self-described animal lover who regularly feeds feral cats. He says Tiny the pit bull killed one cat. When it went for three kittens he grabbed his shotgun.

“Then it came at me, that is when I fired and it went off,” he said.

“I just heard the gunshot and then I looked out and saw he was pointing the gun at the dog and the kid and I called the cops,” said neighbor Jessica Clarke.

Clarke does not approve of shooting a gun in a common area. Still, she says she understands why Ollevette took aim. She says the teenager who owns the pitbull “always has the dog off the leash so it's not safe.”

“Especially with all the kids there is a lot of kids in the neighborhood,” says Clarke.

ABC7’s Stephen Tschida found the owner of the pitbull who initially didn’t want to speak with the reporter. He eventually showed ABC7 the uninjured Tiny. The dog was in a fenced enclosure.

Some neighbors say they saw Tiny racing through the neighborhood off leash on Monday.

Ovellette says if he sees Tiny go for another one of his beloved cats, or a child, he will shoot again, this time to kill.

“That dog is dangerous,” he said.