Oh sure, you’ve heard countless stories about a dog biting a man. But how about a dog shooting a woman? Local police in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, detailed the unusual tale earlier this week. The dog reportedly triggered a live shotgun in its owner’s car, sending a blast directed at the woman’s vehicle nearby. Thankfully, her injuries were not life-threatening, police said. Hair trigger of the dog The accidental shooting took place on Saturday, May 23, at a local convenience store. According to police, the shotgun had a live round in its chamber. The dog then caused the gun to go off when it moved from one side of the backseat to the other. The woman had pulled up to a traffic light several yards away when the gun fired. Though the woman’s car door took the brunt of the blast, a pellet also struck her upper right arm, which had been resting out the window. A family member of the woman, police said, took her to the Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff for treatment. Officials are still investigating the incident, though they note it’s illegal in the state of Nebraska to drive with a loaded firearm in the vehicle.
Not the first Strange as this incident is, it’s not the first dog-involved shooting to happen lately. Last November, a 53-year-old Pennsylvania man reported that he was shot in the lower back by his dog with a shotgun he had left on his bed while cleaning it (he required surgery but survived). In March 2025, a 39-year-old Tennessee man was similarly shot by his dog when it jumped on the bed and got its paw struck in the gun’s trigger guard; the shot only grazed his left thigh. More tragically, a Kansas man in 2023 was killed by a rifle accidentally triggered by a dog during a hunting trip.
