FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Fairfax County man has been charged with animal cruelty and recklessly discharging a firearm within a thousand feet of a school after police say he shot and killed his neighbor’s dog.
According to the Fairfax County Police Department, officers responded to an apartment building on the 5100 block of Brittney Elyse Circle in the Centreville area just after 9:45 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 11 for a report of a shooting.
When they got there, the officers found a man and his 2-year-old Beagle/yellow lab mix who had been shot. The dog was taken to a local veterinary hospital and pronounced dead.
Police determined that the dog and its owner were in the apartment building’s breezeway when the owner exchanged words with 33-year-old Roman Vyacheslavov Gorelov, who also lives in the building.
Gorelov took out a gun and shot the dog. The owner then picked the dog up and ran away from the breezeway, Gorelov followed the man and shot the dog several more times before going back into his apartment.
Police called Gorelov, who then surrendered. Detectives searched Gorelov’s apartment and found the gun.
Gorelov has been charged with animal cruelty and recklessly discharging a firearm within a thousand feet of a school, he is being held without bond. Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call Fairfax Police at 703-691-3121.
