Man arrested after firing gun in the air to defend pet duck from dog attack

A California man has been arrested after allegedly firing a gun in the air to defend his pet duck from a dog attack.

Clinton Wilson from Escalon, Sacramento, was arrested on Monday morning and charged with reckless endangerment, according to a statement by the Escalon Police Department.

The police confirmed that Wilson committed a public offense, as wilfully discharging “a firearm in a grossly negligent manner which could result in injury or death to a person” is illegal in the area.

The authorities said that the incident took place at around 9:15 a.m. on Monday at the 2200 block of Main Street in Escalon after a dog owned by one of Wilson’s neighbors allegedly bit his pet duck.

Wilson told the police that after seeing the dog jump back over his fence and noticing that his duck was injured and unable to walk, he “went into his house and retrieved his .38 caliber pistol,” according to the department’s statement.

He then left his residence and “fired the gun up into the air and began yelling at his neighbor.” The police received several reports about the gunshots and quickly responded to the scene.

Escalon Police Department Sgt. Gustavo Flores told CBS Sacramento that “Mr. Wilson had fired the gun after he saw the dog jumping over the fence. He fired the gun to scare the dog. The dog had attacked the duck. The duck is still injured with a broken leg.”

Flores criticized Wilson’s actions, saying that “the fact that he fired the gun into the air — it’s very reckless. Everything that goes up…it has to come down; it has to hit something. Luckily, we didn’t get any calls that it hit anybody.”

One of Wilson’s neighbors, Alejandro Mancilla, told CBS Sacramento that he called the police after hearing gunshots and said that he is concerned about Wilson’s actions.

“There’s other ways to scare off a dog than shooting shots in the air. That’s not very responsible and living around the area it’s scary to think someone’s doing that,” Mancilla said. “You’re going to put everyone else in danger to protect your duck?”

The dog was taken by animal control, who confirmed to the authorities that it was unlicensed and “had been running at large.” The owner of the dog has since been cited for the infractions.

Newsweek has contacted the Escalon Police Department for comment.