A mystery gunman randomly shot at a South Carolina woman and her little beagle in their own backyard late last month — with one of the bullets tearing through the pup’s mouth and nearly killing him.
Tiffany Noel was brushing her teeth before bed on Sunday, Oct. 20, when she heard gunshots tear through the silence outside her home in Lancaster, about an hour south of Charlotte, according to WSOC-TV 9.
Then she heard her beagle, Copper — who was in the backyard on his nightly bathroom run —screeching and howling at about 10 p.m., the station said.
“All of a sudden, I hear a ton of loud noise,” Noel told the station. “So, I ran. I was like, ‘My dog has got to be scared to death.’ I ran to the door and opened it, and he’s like screaming.”
A bullet grazed her arm when she out to check on him — and she yanked the bleeding pup inside just as the hidden shooter squeezed off more rounds, according to a GoFundMe set up by a friend to cover the dog’s medical bills.
“Shots continued to fire after they were inside,” the fundraiser said. “Tiffany called 911, unconcerned about herself but wanting to save Copper, who was losing blood rapidly.”
Noel is reportedly OK after the shooting but Copper faces a lengthy recovery after one of the bullets knocked his teeth out and shattered his jaw, which needed an operation and pins to help it heal.
“It’s severely broken,” Noel told the station. “When he opens his mouth, you can hear the bones kind of rattling around in there.”
Lancaster cops are investigating the shooting, which they say could be linked to gang violence, and are searching for a suspect.
Noel said she had heard in the distance right before the gunfire.
Meanwhile, she’s already spent nearly $3,000 to take care of her wounded pup.
“You can’t expect these kinds of things. No one can prepare for that,” she said.
“It has been a lot financially. Emotionally, I’m basically traumatized to be in my own home.”
The online fundraiser said police found bullets holes in Tiffany’s cars, along the side of her house and in her porch.
“While we are grateful Tiffany is safe and Copper pulled through, they have faced a traumatizing, unthinkable event within their own home where they should feel safe,” the fundraiser said.
