Dog attacks teen walking home

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Rottweilers can be gentle, but they are also one of the most feared dogs. Just ask 15-year-old Emmanuel Rodriguez.

"It was on my leg the whole time. It was trying to bite my leg," Rodriguez said.

The North Mecklenburg student had just gotten off his school bus on Suntrace Way late Monday when the dog came charging at him.

Neighbor Curtis McCrorey was standing nearby.

"Dog was maybe 3 feet high, muscular, every bit 100, 110 pounds," McCrorey said. "He's a big dog for that little fella. He's viscous."

McCrorey ran to get his gun. In the meantime Rodriguez had managed to run to his front door to safety, but McCrorey didn't know that.

"When I got back out I couldn’t see him, so I ran to Alex's dad. I said, 'Where is your son? Is he in the house? He says, 'Yeah, he's in the house.' I said, 'Where is the dog?' About that time here comes that beast. He's coming at me," McCrorey said.

McCrorey says the dog charged and then leaped once he got close. The 43-year-old man says that was close enough, so he fired a shot from his 45.

"It kind of tore me up to kill that dog," he said. "You hate to kill your neighbor's dog anyway."

His young neighbor is thankful.

"I feel fortunate that I’m alive and that the neighbor came and helped," Rodriguez said.

Animal Control has been called out to the north Charlotte neighborhood before about the dog, but officers say the owners were never citied.