An Annapolis man faces charges of animal cruelty, reckless endangerment and multiple firearms charges after allegedly shooting a dog in the head, according to online court records and police charging documents.
Keith Roland Gross, 35, allegedly shot a leashed dog named Prince shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, May 9, according to charging documents. He was arrested and ordered held without bond Monday, according to online court records.
Prince’s owner, who is not named in charging documents, asked a friend to walk the dog. Initially, police said the dog was unleashed and tried to “run aggressively” at someone before it was shot, according to a report in the Capital Gazette.
Charging documents, written after police spoke with the woman walking the dog and reviewed security footage, paint a fuller picture.
The woman was walking Prince in the 1100 block of Madison Street in Eastport, outside an apartment building. She told police that Prince began to “go after” Gross after he came around the corner of the building, but that she had him under control on the leash and was pulling him back.
Citing the security camera footage, police wrote in charging documents that Prince “lunged” toward Gross, who is seen taking out a firearm and firing a shot at the dog. Gross then fled and entered a building on Medgar Evers Street, which is near where the shooting happened.
Police used images of Gross as well as information about a Chevrolet that he was seen exiting before the shooting to identify him, according to charging documents; he was also determined to be legally barred from possessing a gun because of a previous criminal conviction.
Gross is being represented by the Office of the Public Defender, according to online court records. A representative for the office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
After the shooting, Prince was “alert, conscious and was able to walk,” according to police charging documents. His owner took him to an emergency veterinary clinic, where an X-ray found an object consistent with a bullet lodged in his head “where it remains.”
Annapolis Police Department spokesperson Kortlan Jackson said Prince was a “pit bull” type breed.
Gross has a trial scheduled for July 13.




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