A pit bull was shot in Rochester while police were raiding a neighboring home.

The Rochester Police Department states that “as the two officers were moving from their positions, the pit bull charged at the officers, causing the officers to shoot the pit bull.”

The incident occurred on St. Paul Street at approximately 6:20 a.m., as the SWAT team searched a home where police say they found drugs and weapons.

The owners of the pit bull were on scene but weren’t involved in the initial investigation.

The police department tells News 8 that multiple guns, and drugs were in fact located at the home they searched. A person of interest related to the search warrant was taken into custody.

Neighbors in the area said they heard gunshots Thursday morning, not from the house being raided, but two doors down.

Peter Reninger, who lives in the same apartment-home as the dog, says an officer told them everything was safe, which is why the owner took the dog out in her own fenced-in backyard.

Reninger says the dog was right next to her owner, when a SWAT officer, unknowingly appeared in their backyard. Again, according to a Rochester police report, an aggressive pit bull charged at the officer, causing the officer to shoot the dog. Reninger says that didn’t happen.

Reninger says, “She saw her dog get shot in front of her with no warning. She was standing right next to her.”

He adds, “The explanation I got as to why we weren’t told about that, is that apparently, uniformed officers and SWAT officers aren’t in communication with one another.”

So the uniformed officer had no idea there was an armed officer in our backyard.”

We did reach out to Rochester police to find out if they did in fact follow proper protocol and if the dog did launch at the officer, however, they have not given us a solid answer.