A dog was reportedly shot and killed while walking off-leash with its owner in the Winchester town forest Monday evening, police said.

Around 6:30 p.m., Winchester police responded to a report of a dog that had been shot in the wooded area off Sussex Road, Chief of Police Daniel J. O’Connell Jr. said in a statement. 

The owner told officers he was walking his dog off-leash when he heard a gunshot and found his dog wounded. According to O’Connell, the owner said he heard a second gunshot in the distance while speaking with a concerned neighbor about 15-20 minutes later. 

Police searched the area for more than two hours, and Massachusetts State Police aided the search with a ballistics K-9. Authorities monitored the area overnight, and O’Connell said police patrol and mountain bike units remain in the area as detectives process the scene. 

“We ask that residents avoid the town forest while police process the scene,” he said.

The department has also been in touch with the law enforcement department at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), according to the statement.

Winchester police are asking anyone with information on the incident to call 781-729-1214.