A family in Michigan kept their dog safe in their own front lawn, hanging out behind an invisible fence. The problem with invisible fences, though, is that people wandering through the neighborhood don’t know that they’re present. Like the man who was reportedly performing surveying work for an AT&T contractor, and fatally shot the family’s dog, which he thought was attacking him.

The family recounted to WXYZ-TV (warning: auto-play video at that link) that their dog, Katie, age four and a half, was hanging out in the yard.

“I heard a pop and the next thing I know my dog’s laying down on the ground dead,” one of the dog’s owners told the TV station. “I noticed a guy coming from my neighbor’s yard into our yard.”

The family reports that the shooter said he was cutting through their property to get to a meter, and that the dog “lunged at [him].” The family insists that their dog would not have acted that way.

The important question, which a representative of the man’s employer couldn’t answer, is whether he was supposed to be carrying a personal firearm on the job at all, let alone use it to shoot and kill someone’s pet.

His employer is also waiting to find out whether any laws were broken. In a statement, the company said in part:

We’ve instructed our employee to fully comply with local police in all respects, if requested. The Company is also prepared to fully cooperate with the police, if requested. At this stage, the Company has not been advised by the police as to whether they believe that any laws have been violated. If and when such a determination is made, the Company will be prepared to take that fact into consideration.

The utility worker is on leave pending an investigation, though his employer, a contractor for AT&T, wouldn’t tell WXYZ whether that leave was paid or unpaid.