Owner says dog shot in Central Park

Authorities are investigating a dog’s mysterious death in Central Park on Tuesday, according to media reports.

The black Labrador was running off-leash with his 65-year-old owner when it rambled down a hill near the northwest corner of the park and W. 110th St. around 11 p.m., police said.

Police said that Duke’s injuries did not appear consistent with that of a gunshot wound. The dog was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Post reports that Burke told police that he had not seen anyone else in the park in the moments before his awful discovery. Earlier, there was concern that the dog might have been shot, but that has not been confirmed, CBS2 reported. Photographer David Torres says the owner was “visibly shaken” and tried to say good-bye to his dog a final time (when the dog was wrapped in plastic), but police led him away.

“I don’t think it would be unusual to jump to that as a potential conclusion, but I’ve never heard of a dog being deliberately injured by a person in the park”, one woman told CBS New York.

The dog was taken to the ASPCA for an autopsy, cops said.