Sep 19, 2008 10:45 pm US/Central
Boy, 6, Mauled By Dogs On West Side
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Two of three pit bulls were shot by police after mauling a 6-year-old boy Friday night in the West Side's Garfield Park neighborhood.
Authorities say Trayshawn Toliver is in serious but stable condition at Mt. Sinai Hospital, and that he was bitten so severely that some of the bone in his leg was exposed.
Harrison District officers in the 500 block of North Lawndale Avenue witnessed three dogs attacking the little boy about 7:50 p.m., according to police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor.
"I never seen anything like this in my life," said Trayshawn's mother, Marla Thomas. "And I just pray and hope that my son is going to be alright."
Police say Trayshawn had been playing with friends in a vacant lot when the dogs in the yard next door got through a storm-damaged fence and got to the child.
"I jumped the fence, grabbed my little brother and I was turning him to get away from the dog, and I was punching the dog," said Demond Black. "I got bit on my hand."
A neighbor and officers also came to Trayshawn's aid.
"I heard the boy screaming, so I had to run back over here," a witness told CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman. "I didn't really do nothing because I didn't want the dogs to attack me, so I had to flag the police down."
Chicago Police Sgt. Adam Zelitzky said when they tried to lift the child over the fence, two of the three dogs were still clamped onto him.
Officers attempting to stop the pit bulls from attacking the boy were forced to "destroy" two of them, police said. One other pit bull escaped, but was later in animal control's custody.
Witnesses stressed police did everything they could to control the dogs, including using pepper spray, before they resorted to using their firearms.
The owner of the dogs was being questioned by police Friday night.
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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