The Chesterfield Police Department is searching for a perpetrator after a Chesterfield Township family’s precious pup was shot and killed Saturday morning, just two days before Christmas.

Like normal, Jesse Young let their 2-year-old husky-pit bull mix, Stella, out into their backyard around 11:30 a.m., but when he went to let the dog back in about 20 minutes later, he found her bleeding to death on their back porch after a bullet had pierced through both of her lungs.

He immediately called his wife, Chelsea, who was out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping and was devastated by his news.

“My husband called me and said that ‘Stella’s home, somebody has shot her and she is dying on our back porch,'” Chelsea Young said to WXYZ-TV Channel 7. “I never want anybody to feel what I felt in that moment.”

The family now fears for their well-being in a neighborhood that – only a week ago – they used to consider safe and quiet.

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Near 24 Mile Road and Walnut Drive and adjacent to Great Oaks Elementary School, the Youngs’ backyard has no fence to separate their property from their neighbors’. According to the family, Stella was known to wander into neighbors’ backyards, but her calm demeanor was always met with delight.

After the shooting, Chesterfield Police Department confirmed that Stella was shot by a handgun, but the Young family is still unsure where or by who that their beloved dog was shot.

Chesterfield Township Director of Public Safety Brian Bassett told WXYZ that the shooting was an isolated incident and has not happened in other parts of the town; nonetheless, firearm usage is not allowed in the area, especially in such close proximity to a school.

Chesterfield police is asking that anyone with information about the incident to please contact Detective Kate Walsh at (586) 949-3657.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Chesterfield police looking for suspect in local family’s dog shooting