A 14-year-old boy is in the hospital after a city police officer shot a dog who was attacking a group of youths and the bullet then hit the teen in the leg, a police spokesman said Wednesday night.

Officers on patrol in Northeast Baltimore came across a group of youths being attacked by a pit bull at Fenwick and E. 28th St. One officer shot the dog, but the bullet either ricocheted or went through the dog and hit the teenager in the leg, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

No other youths were injured; the 2-year-old pit bull died.

The teen was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital. "He'll be fine," Guglielmi said. The boy was talking and coherent at the scene, he said.

Witnesses said the youths had been harassing the dog, who got loose. "The dog started antagonizing the kids," Guglielmi said.

The officers involved are with the Northeast District, but their names have not been released.