Man shot at while walking dog hides behind trash can, Texas cops say. ‘Saved my life’

A Texas man walking his dog early in the morning survived a barrage of gunfire after police say he took cover behind a trash can.

The man and his dog were outside near his home in Pearland at about 4:20 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 21, when he noticed something odd, the Pearland Police Department said in a news release.

First, he saw a light was on inside of his vehicle, cops said. And then something in the street caught his eye, a figure dressed in dark clothing

“The victim had inadvertently walked up on a burglary of a motor vehicle,” police said.

The man quickly hid behind a nearby garbage can as the accused car burglar opened fire on him, according to police. The suspect fired 14 shots before fleeing the scene.

The man wasn’t hit and his only injuries were “minor cuts to his elbow and knee,” police said.

His dog, named Shiner, is also physically okay, but pretty shaken up, Mark Bautsch told KPRC.

“He’s still scared. He’s been hiding in the closet,” Bautsch said.

Quick thinking helped him come out of the attack alive, but Bautsch gave most of the credit to his neighbor’s trash can.

“We need to make it a little shrine now that it saved my life,” he told the outlet.

There were three suspects seen on surveillance video, police said, and they were last spotted leaving the scene in a dark Toyota Camry. Police believe the same group is responsible for other vehicle break-ins in the neighborhood, as well as in the nearby community of Friendswood.

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 281-997-4211.

Pearland is a roughly 20-mile drive southeast from downtown Houston.

This story was originally published August 22, 2024 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Man shot at while walking dog hides behind trash can, Texas cops say. ‘Saved my life’."