A 4-year-old boy died after pit bulls pulled the child away from his mother, dragged him behind a fence and viciously mauled him on Detroit’s west side Wednesday.
Neighbors said they tried to help free the boy and described the frantic scene at John C. Lodge Service Drive and Baylis Street, which happened around 12:25 p.m.
“Please help me get the dogs off my baby!” a 34-year-old neighbor said the child’s mother yelled. “They have my baby!”
The woman, who didn’t give her name, said she tried to get the dogs to let the child go and used Mace, but it didn’t work.
“The dogs were so vicious, they wouldn’t let us get around the baby,” she said.
Police arrived quickly and fatally shot three dogs, Detroit police spokeswoman Sgt. Cassandra Lewis said. A fourth dog was taken into custody, she said.