SHOOTING, CAPTURE END PIT BULL RAMPAGE.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Sheriff's deputies shot one pit bull and captured another after the dogs chased youngsters down a street in a Palmdale neighborhood, officials said.

The pit bulls had just attacked and killed another dog on Turner Drive in Palmdale, and then they turned on several youngsters heading to school, officials said.

``When the deputies rolled up, the dogs took an aggressive stance, and one charged,'' Deputy Dave Jennings of the Palmdale Sheriff's Station said. ``The deputy had to shoot one of them, and then the other ran.''

The deputies pursued the second dog, caught it and held it until animal-control officers arrived. The children were not injured.

When the owners are located, they could face criminal charges as well as a civil lawsuit from the owners of the dog that was killed, investigators said.

Deputies received the call about the attack on a dog just after 9 a.m., and they said that, when they arrived, the pit bulls were already chasing the children.

The deputies got the dogs' attention away from the children, then used a shotgun on the dog that charged them, officials said.