He Told Virginia Deputies He Fired a Single Shot to Scare Off Barking Dogs — But His 9mm Was Missing Two Rounds

Photo credit: AI-generated image created using ChatGPT. Illustrative only

In the country, barking dogs can wear a man thin. But once you step outside with a handgun to “handle it,” you’re no longer dealing with a noise problem—you’re dealing with muzzle discipline, backstops, neighbors, and a sheriff’s deputy asking hard questions.

That’s the situation deputies walked into Sunday, March 1, in Henry County, Virginia, after a report of a dog being shot in the area of 319 Robin Road in Axton. The details were outlined in the original post, and they read like the kind of neighbor dispute that goes sideways fast when firearms get involved.

Deputies arrived to blood trails and a wounded Chihuahua

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a report of a dog being shot and arrived within minutes. They made contact with a woman who told them her pet Chihuahua had been shot after she heard gunfire coming from a neighboring residence while she was inside her home.

When she went outside, she found her dog wounded. Deputies reported observing multiple blood trails and an apparent gunshot wound to the groin/testicular area. The dog was taken to an emergency vet clinic for treatment.

A neighbor dispute turned into a gunshot report

According to deputies, the woman identified her neighbor as the likely shooter, but he had left the area before law enforcement arrived. Deputies later contacted him by phone, and he returned home to speak with them.

The neighbor’s explanation was that the Chihuahua had been in his backyard with several other dogs, barking and refusing to leave. He told deputies he went inside, retrieved a firearm, returned outside, and saw the dogs still in his yard—still barking and moving farther onto his property.

He said it was one warning shot—deputies found a magazine short two rounds

Deputies said the neighbor admitted firing one shot in the dogs’ direction to scare them away, and he stated he didn’t believe he hit any of the animals.

But deputies recovered a 9mm handgun at the scene and found it was missing two rounds from the magazine, which they said was consistent with the woman’s account of hearing two shots. With the physical evidence, witness statements, and the dog’s significant wound, the situation didn’t stay in the “warning shot” lane for long.

Charges filed: maiming of a companion animal and animal cruelty

Deputies charged Brad Lamont Flood, 48, with maiming of a companion animal and animal cruelty. He was brought before a magistrate on both charges and held at the Henry County Adult Detention Center on a $1,000 secured bond.

The sheriff’s office noted the investigation is ongoing and encouraged anyone with information related to the incident to contact the Henry County Sheriff’s Office or Crimestoppers.

In rural life, “my property” doesn’t make a safe backstop

If you’ve lived out where dogs roam and property lines are more habit than fence, you already know the frustration: somebody’s dogs show up, raise Cain, and won’t leave. But stepping outside and firing toward animals—especially in a neighborhood setting—brings a pile of problems all at once, and most of them don’t care who technically owns the dirt.

The safety piece is the one that should stop anyone cold. A 9mm bullet doesn’t just vanish because a man is mad at barking. Without a solid backstop and a clear line of fire, you’re gambling with what’s behind those dogs—houses, outbuildings, roads, and people who might be stepping out their back door at the worst possible time.

And even when someone believes they’re “just scaring them,” the results can look very different once deputies show up and start matching statements to physical evidence—like how many shots were reportedly heard versus how many rounds are missing from the magazine.

What this is a reminder of for landowners and gun owners

This isn’t a gear review or a caliber debate. It’s a reminder that in the real world, a firearm is a tool that comes with instant consequences—legal, financial, and personal—when it gets used in a neighborhood dispute.

If a neighbor’s dogs are repeatedly trespassing, there are options that don’t involve sending rounds across a yard: documenting the incidents, contacting animal control or the sheriff’s office, and addressing it directly with the owner when tempers aren’t hot. That may feel slower than the “right now” fix, but it keeps you on the right side of both safety and the law.

Because once shots are fired and an animal is injured, the whole story changes. And like this case shows, the difference between “I fired one shot” and what the evidence suggests can become the difference between an argument on a property line and a trip to jail.