Law enforcement arrested a suspect accused of fatally shooting a man’s dog during an attempted robbery on October 28 in Tampa, Florida.

Police Chief Mary O’Connor told reporters that 17-year-old Jayden Harris had been taken into custody following the incident that occurred in the 2600 block of W. Powhatan Avenue, Fox 13 reported Thursday.

As Geovonni Ruiz was walking his two dachshunds that evening, a man approached and reportedly demanded money before firing a gun.

Harris allegedly fired five shots toward the ground which hit the victim’s dogs.

“In fear for his life and his pets, the victim grabbed both dogs in his arms and ran away. The suspect chased the victim, firing two more shots in his direction,” the Tampa Police Department explained in a social media post.

“Upon returning to his home, the victim discovered that one of his dogs was badly injured during the shooting. He immediately took his dogs to an emergency veterinarian. The severely injured dog died as a result of the shooting,” the post read:
Through investigative means, including surveillance video and a composite sketch, Tampa Police detectives were able to identify Jayden Harris as the suspect and identified a black Volkswagen Tiguan SUV he was riding in that was seen circling the block before and after the shooting incident. The victim was shown a photo of Harris and positively identified him as the shooter.

The suspect may be connected to other robberies in the area. Officials arrested him a few hours after the shooting on a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office warrant for aggravated assault and robbery with a firearm.

The suspect bonded out of jail a few days later. However, he was located at his Tampa home on Thursday.

There are multiple charges against him which include felony robbery with a firearm and two counts of felony aggravated cruelty to animals.

“We took a cold-hearted criminal off of our Tampa streets,” O’Connor said of the arrest. “This suspect took the life of a dog, and he likely would have taken the life of its owner had the bullets not narrowly missed him.”

Meanwhile, soaring crime across President Joe Biden’s (D) America is one of the top issues for voters looking toward the fast-approaching midterm elections, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll from August.