An off-duty Secret Service agent reportedly shot and killed a leashed dog in New York — and the agency keeps changing its story

• An unidentified secret service agent allegedly shot and killed a dog that was being walked on a leash by its owner on Monday night, the New York Daily News first reported.
• Police said the off-duty agent told the New York Police Department officers that he shot the dog after it charged at him, according to the Daily News.
• Although a Secret Service spokesman told the Daily Beast the dog was “unleashed,” the agency later changed its statement to Insider to say that the dog was leashed but “unrestrained and aggressive.”
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

An off-duty Secret Service agent shot and killed a dog that was being walked on a leash by its owner in Brooklyn Monday night, police and witnesses told the New York Daily News.

The agent was walking in Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace neighborhood around 10 p.m. when he crossed paths with a man and his partner walking a female Belgian Shepherd, according to the Daily News.

The dog barked at the agent, who then pulled out a gun and fired at the canine, the Daily News reported. The agency employee reportedly told New York City Police Department investigators that the dog had charged at him.

News of the alleged killing sparked outrage. A Secret Service spokesperson told Insider in a statement that the dog was “unrestrained and aggressive” and then said it would decline to comment further.

"An off-duty Secret Service employee was involved in the shooting of an unrestrained and aggressive canine in Brooklyn, NY yesterday," the spokesperson said. "As this is an ongoing investigation, the Secret Service will not have further comment."

The statement differs from what the Secret Service spokesperson previously told the Daily Beast, where the agency said the dog was "unleashed." Photographs published by the Daily News show the dog's body with a leash under a white sheet.

The spokesperson also told Insider that the dog was wearing a leash at the time of the incident but was "unsecured" from its owner, who it said was "not present," though the Daily News reported that the dog was being walked by its owner at the time.

"She scared a cop who was walking home," the dog's owner told the Daily News. "He shot her and she's dead."

According to the Animal Defense Legal Fund, there are felony provisions for in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for intentionally killing a dog or a cat. The NYPD told the New York Daily News it's investigating the matter.