A Detroit officer took aim at a dog Sunday afternoon but ended up sending his partner to the hospital after putting a bullet in his leg, according to three local television news reports of the controversial incident.

The shooting, which reports called an accident, has been posted in various markets nationally by Fox affiliates.

The Free Press has left messages with the Detroit police.

The incident raises questions about gun safety, and the responsibilities of dog owners and police, especially when it comes to reasonably restraining animals and using force when feeling threatened.

"The dog charged at the officers," Detroit Police Commander Brian Harris told WXYZ-TV (Channel 7). "The officers fearing for their safety, one officer fired one round at the dog. The round didn’t strike the dog, it struck his partner in the lower right calf."

The dog owner, WXYZ said, was cited for harboring a vicious animal in the city limits.

In the same report, however, a witness said the dog barked, but didn't lunge at the officer. It's unclear how, if the officer was aiming at the dog, he ended up shooting his partner in the lower right calf.

The officers, WJBK-TV (Fox 2)'s report said, responded to a call before 5 p.m. seeking help to prevent a suicide. But when they arrived at Prevost Street and west of Greenfield Road, they were met by a neighbor's American bulldog.

The dog, the report said "charged at the officers."

The injured officer was taken to Sinai-Grace Hospital, WDIV-TV (Channel 4) reported.

Detroit has a history of high-profile dog maulings, many of which cause serious injury and some of which are deadly. In April, two girls were rushed to a hospital after a dog attack at Bates Academy in Detroit.

Last month, a Detroit officer was cleared of shooting a dog in the head on the city's east side after it attacked a police dog during a search for a suspect's weapon. Department officials said the officer acted according to protocol.

Ring doorbell footage of the incident, which was posted to social media and sparked outrage, showed the officer walking along a residential sidewalk with a K-9 officer on a leash when a white medium-size dog ran up to its home's front gate.

The two dogs ran together on opposite sides of the fence, then the K-9 approached the fence and the white dog latched itself onto the K-9's snout between the wrought iron fence rails.

In the video, the officer reaches for her gun and fires a single shot at the dog's head.

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At the same time on Sunday, WXYZ reported the bulldog's owner said the pet had never been aggressive and questioned why the officer reached for his weapon instead of using mace, a taser or something nonlethal to protect himself.

In addition, WXYZ reported, a witness, a relative of the owner, said the officer was "just going crazy with the gun," adding that she "thought he was gonna shoot me because he was swinging the gun all over the place."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.