A Paris, Kentucky, police officer had to fire a shot at a suspect in a disturbance on Thursday. The suspect had four legs and barks.

It happened on Williams Street where a woman said a pit bull terrorized her. Now, the dog's owner is facing charges.

Mary Brooks came out of her home Thursday morning to go to work and saw a pit bull coming at her from a driveway across the street.

She says it was growling in a menacing way.

"I kept saying get, get, get. Then my husband came around from the driver’s side of our car, grabbed my pocketbook off my arm and kept swinging it at the dog until it ran up the street. Then I went inside and called police," Brooks said.

Paris Police Chief Tim Gray picks up the story from there.

"Officers responded and did find the dog. The pit bull charged one of our officers. He had to take a shot at the dog to try to stop him from attacking. He missed the animal, but it did scare the animal enough that it retreated. The Bourbon County Animal Control officer then showed up and was able to contain the dog," Chief Gray said.

People in the neighborhood say the dog is normally kept chained up in the backyard of a home at the corner of Williams Street and Lilleston.

Its owner, who was at work at the time, will be charged under a new ordinance specifically aimed at pit bulls.

Police Chief Gray tells 27 NEWSFIRST, "This is the dog we're dealing with; nine out of 10 times, these are pit bulls. It basically requires the animals to be housed under some pretty strict guidelines so we don't have to be concerned about kids and residents being able to walk through their neighborhoods safely."

Once the Animal Control officer got the dog leashed, it became very submissive and no longer seemed like such a threat.

Obviously, the intent of the ordinance is to make sure these pit bulls don't get loose to roam the streets.