‘It could’ve been a child’: Man accused of shooting dog in the face while boy was nearby

PHOENIX - Court documents are providing details surrounding a November incident in Phoenix that involved the shooting of a dog.

The suspect in the incident, according to the documents, was arrested on Nov. 19.

Here are the details.

Who's the suspect in the case?

Court documents identify the suspect as 45-year-old Matthew Patrick Wazny of Phoenix.

What happened?

Phoenix dog survives shooting; suspect arrested

According to investigators, the dog was shot while a child was nearby, and the suspect has been arrested. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen spoke with the dog's owners.

According to court documents, an officer responded to "a call of shots fired striking a dog" at a place in Phoenix on Nov. 19. The exact location of the call was redacted from court documents.

"I heard a loud bang, and then Falco yelling, screaming, blood rushing down him," said the dog's owner, Zachary Zuran

Falco had been at the fence up against the alley when someone fired their gun at the dog. The dog was reported shot in its face, and a neighbors surveillance camera picked up the noise.

"I arrived on scene and canvassed the alley just to the south of the address listed," read a portion of the officer's statement that was included in the court documents. "I observed the defendant in a yard just to the southeast of the location the where the dog was shot."

The officer said during a conversation with Wazny, it was apparent that Wazny's finger was bleeding. The bleeding was the result from a dog bite, in an unrelated incident.

As for the dog that was shot, court documents state there was no evidence that the dog was outside of its yard at the time of the incident.

Investigators also state that a 12-year-old was playing with the dog that was shot at the time.

"The child was approximately 10 to 15 yards from the dog, but the potential trajectory of the bullet could have struck the child," read a portion of the court documents.

The 12-year-old is Hailey Hernandez's son.

"If it wasn’t a dog, it could have been a child," said Hailey. "It could have missed my dog and hit my son and killed him, and that’s the worst thing I could ever go through."

Eventually, Wazny was taken into custody.

"A Ruger with the same caliber used to shoot the dog was found in the defendant's back right pocket, inside of a holster," read a portion of the court documents. "The defendant was also noticeably intoxicated and unwilling to cooperate with our investigation."

What happened to the dog that was shot?

According to Zachary, he and Hailey drove as fast as they could to the vet in order to save the dog's life.

"When we got to the vet, the bullet got lodged in his tongue," said Zachary.

The dog, named Falco, lost a lot of blood, but an emergency surgery to remove the bullet was a success.

Hailey and Zachary said they are now fearful to go to their back fence again.

"Just…man, we almost lost our dog," said Hailey. "This is something we'll carry with us for the rest of our lives. No matter where we move, this will all be in the back of our head."

A GoFundMe has been set up to cover the cost of surgery for Falco, along with other expenses.