Poor Pit Bulls ... they have such an undeserved reputation

A man accidentally shot his elderly mother while trying to break up fighting pit bulls inside their Plantation home Tuesday night, police said.

The son told NBC Miami that he and his mother have seven pit bulls in their house at 4541 W. Broward Blvd. – they own three and take care of four for friends.

Tuesday night the dogs became aggressive and started fighting each other, Plantation Police spokesman Detective Robert Rettig said.

The 84-year-old mother, identified by police as Sonia Piccione, tried to separate them, and her 50-year-old son used a pistol to shoot at the dogs, but ended up hitting his mother, Rettig said. The son, Billy, who only wanted to give his first name, said his bullet hit his mother in the leg.

"I saw the dogs were fighting. She was on the ground," Billy said. "And I tried to break them up, and the one dog came at me," and with time of the essence, he shot, he said. More here:

Well, this comes as a complete shock.  After all, we all know how loveable Pit Bulls are ... and how their reputation for biting and ripping and maiming and killing aggression is blown WAY out of proportion.  That's what makes this story such a shocker, don't you agree?