The article did not say that the dog was barking, it was just loose. Big deal.
“he noticed an unrestrained dog nearby”
Sorry,
I didn’t read the article far enough. Initially it said he noticed a loose dog nearby.
Later it said that the dog was barking.
As others said on this thread, makes sense, that maybe the dog belonged to the woman and it was just trying to get her help.
The policeman could have talked to the dog, to calm him down first, at least, instead of getting his gun and shoot at it.
Wasn’t even a good shot, he shot the poor woman lying in the grass.