Deputies say a man trying to stop a dog attack instead shot the animal’s owner, who later died at a hospital.
LEESBURG, Fla. — Lake County deputies were searching Friday for a 43-year-old man they said fired a handgun during a dog attack near a homeless encampment in Leesburg, fatally wounding the dog’s owner before running from the scene on foot.
Authorities identified the person of interest as Matthew Lee Pasco and said he was believed to still be armed as deputies set up a perimeter around the area near Griffin Road and Tally Box Road. The shooting turned a chaotic animal attack into a homicide investigation, sent one woman to a hospital with multiple dog bites and prompted a nearby school lockdown as officers searched for Pasco.
The case began Friday morning in a wooded area near 1904 Griffin Road, where deputies said a woman was being attacked by a dog near a homeless camp. Investigators said Pasco stepped in and tried to shoot the dog, apparently to stop the attack. Instead, deputies said, the bullet struck the dog’s owner after the owner moved between Pasco and the woman. The wounded owner was taken to a hospital, where he later died. The woman who was bitten was also hospitalized. By late morning, deputies had spread through the area and began searching for Pasco, who authorities said fled on foot immediately after the gunfire.
Deputies described Pasco as 5-foot-11, about 150 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and a prominent scar on the right side of his face. He was last seen wearing a navy blue T-shirt. Investigators said he is known to frequent the Leesburg area and may be homeless. Officials did not immediately release the name of the man who died or the condition of the woman injured in the dog attack beyond saying she was being treated. Deputies also said animal services responded after the shooting and took possession of more than one dog. Later reports from law enforcement said two dogs were shot and one of them died, adding another layer of uncertainty to an already fast-moving scene.
The shooting unfolded across from Carver Middle School, where officials imposed a lockdown as a precaution while deputies searched the woods and nearby roads. Investigators said the campus was not connected to the shooting itself, but the law enforcement response quickly widened because the suspect was believed to be armed and still at large. The area around Griffin Road became the center of a homicide investigation, with sheriff’s deputies, animal services workers and media helicopters converging on the scene. The incident also drew attention because of where it happened: a rough patch near a homeless encampment, where witnesses and deputies said the dog attack and gunfire erupted in quick succession.
As of Friday afternoon, no arrest had been announced and no criminal charge had yet been publicly filed in court records tied to the shooting. Deputies said the immediate next step was finding Pasco and securing the weapon they believe he still has. Investigators were also expected to continue interviewing witnesses, sorting out the exact movements of the dog owner, the bite victim and Pasco in the moments before the shot was fired. Authorities had not said whether Pasco and the victims knew each other before the incident. The medical examiner’s office is expected to determine the exact cause and manner of death, while detectives continue building the homicide case.
Friday’s scene was marked by a mix of fear and confusion. Deputies warned people not to approach Pasco if they saw him, underscoring the public safety threat they believed remained. The sheriff’s office said the encounter began as an apparent attempt to help a woman under attack, but within moments turned fatal for another person. That sequence left investigators with a case that straddles two emergencies at once: a violent dog attack and a deadly shooting. For families near the school and residents in the surrounding area, the most urgent question by late afternoon was whether the armed man being sought was still nearby.
The search remained active Friday afternoon, with Pasco still being treated as an armed person of interest and deputies continuing to work the homicide scene near Griffin Road.
Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.