A man and the dog he was walking Tuesday night were shot by youths in a car with a paintball gun, according to an Edgewater woman. Both the man and the dog sustained injuries in the attack.

The woman (who wishes us to use only her first name, Lisa) and her husband, Chris, had decided it was bedtime. Around 10:45 p.m., Chris took their 9-year-old dog, Mugsy, out for his nightly walk outside their Edgewater home in the 5900 block of Paulina, just south of Thorndale.

It was then that two male youths rolled down the window of their late model, dark gray Jeep Cherokee and began shooting at the two.

According to Lisa, “My husband thought it was a real gun from the sound and he was getting hit and ran for the door with the dog. He brought Mugsy in and then ran back out to see if he could find the car.”

By that time, the vehicle had fled and the injuries to Chris and Mugsy were brutal. “Mugsy was hit in the chest and on both sides of his back legs. He was bleeding and is pretty cut up and sore today. My husband was hit in the face and back and has cuts on his nose and welts on his back.”

Since Chris was shot in the face, it was difficult for him to identify the attackers. However, he did see that one of the attackers was a black male.

Lisa feels that Edgewater is generally a safe neighborhood but the incident has made them wary. “Our dog already has anxiety, so of course he has been greatly affected,” she said. “He is 9 years old, so healing takes a bit longer, too.”

Lisa added, “It’s sad that there are people out there that are so vile that they would shoot a dog as entertainment. I hope that they are caught and they get what they deserve.”

A police report was filed. According to the victims, the authorities said that the car description is on their radar as a suspicious vehicle.