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A D.C. woman is crediting an Metropolitan Police Department (web|news) officer with saving her life after a pit bull attacked her in a quiet Northeast neighborhood.
Officer Kevin Whaley and his neighbor Sharmin Spriggs were reunited after a nightmare the day before, when Spriggs was walking her boyfriend's pit bull down the street.
"Never showed any aggression toward me. Like I said, I don't know why this time was any different."
Officer Whaley's son and wife were outside when they saw the pit bull. "It was really big and it looked like it was really mad for some reason."
The pit bull attacked Spriggs, but she held tight to his leash. "I was trying to make sure I hold onto him because I don't know if he's done."
Officer Whaley's family ran and told him what happened and he grabbed his radio, gun and badge, then raced outside. "She's down on all fours on the ground on her knees and blood's rushing off her arm."
"She just kept begging me over and over again, 'Please don't let him bite my neck. Please don't let let him kill me.'"
Still, she didn't let go of the leash. When asked if he could have killed her, Spriggs said, "One person over many is different."
"I certainly wasn't going to let him bite her again. I told her I am not going to let her bite you again. I promise." But the officer had to be careful. "I can't shoot a dog when he's that's close to her. I may shoot her in the process of trying to stop him."
Then, in an instant, the dog took aim at Spriggs away and Whaley jumped in. "I grabbed a hold of him. I wanted to separate the two of them to get him away from her and if anything, have him comes towards me."
In the end, the pit bull mauled Whaley. "I then picked him up with him still attached to my arm. It felt like he almost broke my forearm."
With his neighbor out of harms way, Whaley fired several times at the dog, killing him. The nightmare was over. "There was no way to avoid it. There was nothing you could do at that point. It was me or him."
"I am a dog lover. I've had dogs all my life. I just wanted to get him away from her," Officer Whaley said.
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