Family cuts Thanksgiving London trip short after dogsitter shot at and dogs stolen

By Asia Wilson

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — A man who was keeping his friends’ dogs said he was shot at while out walking two dogs in the Castleberry Hill area of Atlanta on Sunday night.

“It was kind of surreal. It didn’t feel like it was really happening. I was kind of like this isn’t happening right now. Surely, they’re not going to shoot me over dogs,” said dogsitter Joshua Cavanaugh. “When I wouldn’t give the dogs at first, one of the guys dropped the gun down lower like he was going to shoot at my legs and shot and missed and that’s when I kind of jumped and lost my grip on the leashes and they were able to get the leashes from me and take off with them,” he said.

According to Atlanta Police, this all happened around 8:36 p.m. Sunday along Walker Street SW. Officials said the victim complied with the demands, but the suspects ran away and the victim chased them. Police said one of the suspects then fired prior to getting into a car and leaving the scene.

Cavanaugh said another person was waiting in the road for the three men.

“There was a Jeep Renegade parked, waiting for them. They drove off,” Cavanaugh said. “He lets them in the car as I’m running chasing them, as they’re trying to load them in the car one of them turns around and yells at me to stop chasing them and fires another shot at me,” he said.

Atlanta Police said while they were investigating the robbery, they got another call about an accident not far from the scene. They believe it was the same vehicle that was seen leaving the scene of the robbery.

Police officials said in that accident, the driver of the vehicle remained on scene and told officers that three masked males got into his vehicle and forced him to drive at gunpoint. The driver told police when he collided with another vehicle, the three males ran away.

Police said there were no injuries in both cases.

Atlanta News First spoke with the dog owners who landed in Atlanta late Monday afternoon. They were sad, asking anyone who knows anything or sees the dogs to take them to any veterinary clinic (the dog owners use East Atlanta Animal Clinic), or call Atlanta Police at 404-626-8766. They are also offering a cash reward of $5,000 for their safe return.

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