Dog on evening walk with dog sitter hit by gunfire in DC shooting

A dog was injured in the crossfire of a shooting in Northwest D.C. Monday night. It happened in the 700 block of Jefferson Street at around 6:30 p.m.

Lauren Hayes was taking care of two dogs and was taking them out for a walk at the time. The pets she was dog-sitting were for a new client, so she wasn't completely familiar with the area. But with daylight still outside, Hayes did not have any reason to believe she wasn't safe. She walked about half a block when she saw two men across the street begin to fire shots.

Her instincts kicked in and she headed for cover.

"I kind of ducked down behind a car," she said of the frightening incident. "I'm unclear how the dog got hit. It wasn't like right next to us, but it was still really close."

She added, "I think they were firing at the house at the corner, so right across the street from where I was at."

The dog's paw was grazed by a bullet and is expected to be okay.

Police have not made any arrests in this case. A car was also struck in the shooting. Police said they found about 16 shell casings at the scene.

Hayes does not think she was the target in the shooting and believes she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.