***Correction: The southwest home searched by police on Wednesday is located in Richmond/Knob Hill not Bankview as originally reported**

One dog is dead, three men have been arrested, and an officer suffered a serious dog bite following Wednesday morning’s police search of two homes.

According to police, search warrants were executed at homes in the communities of Coral Springs and Richmond/Knob Hill following an investigation prompted by a tip from a member of the public.

During the search of the Richmond/Knob Hill home, in the 2300 block of 19 Street Southwest, a dog, described by police as a pitbull-type, lunged at an officer and latched its jaws around the officer’s arm. The dog would not release the officer and another tactical officer fired his service weapon at the animal.

"Time was of the essence and lethal force was the only option available," said CPS Deputy Chief Ray Robitaille.

The dog did not survive the incident.

The injured officer was transported to hospital where he received upwards of a dozen stitches to close the bite wound.

“These are highly trained officers and I’m not going to minimize the impact that is has on anyone,” said Robitaille. “They’re trained to deal with high risk situations and put themselves at risk really every day.”

“I’m confident that this officer is going to recover from his wounds both physically and psychologically.”

Two people were arrested inside the Richmond/Knob Hill home. Charges are pending against the unnamed parties.

In Coral Springs, members of the tac team executed a search warrant at a home in the 200 block of Coral Springs Circle Northeast. Three people, a woman and two children, were inside the home. The unnamed woman was arrested and the children were removed from the residence. Officers located several pitbull-type dogs on the property.

Deputy Chief Robitaille confirms the children have been moved to a safe location.

Undisclosed amounts of drugs and cash were seized during the searches. Robitaille says the Bankview home was considered to be the 'storefront' of the drug dealing operation while the Coral Springs home was a 'stash house'.

According to Robitaille, surveillance had been conducted on the Richmond/Knob Hill home for several weeks and there was no indication of dogs on the property.

Charges are expected to be laid Wednesday afternoon and no other arrests are expected in connection with the drug operation.

**Update: Police have released the woman arrested at the Coral Springs home without charges. The children have been returned into her custody. An unidentified man, who had been the target of the Coral Springs search, has surrendered to police.**