A Tennessee community is grieving after a grandfather and his infant granddaughter were found dead following an apparent pit bull attack on Wednesday.
In a press release from the office of 14th Judicial District Attorney General Craig Northcott, shared by the Tullahoma Police Department, authorities said the Coffee County Communications Center received a call around 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 3 about “the apparent mauling by pitbulls” of an adult man and a baby.
Neighbor Brian Kirby told Fox 8 News that he had just returned from work when he saw “a woman in the middle of the street screaming.” After asking whether she needed help, he said she ran toward the back of the home, and shortly afterward he heard emergency sirens.
According to the district attorney’s office, officers from the Tullahoma Police Department arrived quickly and found the dogs “actively mauling the infant.” The scene was described in the statement as “brutal.”
Officers shot and killed the dogs to stop the attack, authorities said. It was immediately clear that both victims had died.
Neighbors told WOIO that the family owned seven dogs and claimed the animals had been involved in previous attacks on pets in the neighborhood. Police have not yet publicly identified the owners of the dogs involved in the incident.
Kirby alleged to Fox 8 News that the same dogs had killed his cat and said he had planned to file a police report about it a week earlier.
The district attorney’s office said an investigation is ongoing into the deaths of the man, identified as 50-year-old James Alexander Smith, and his 3-month-old granddaughter. Investigators are also working to determine whether the mauling occurred before or after death, whether there is any past violent history involving these or other dogs in the home, and whether there have been any current or prior concerns involving the children that required attention from the Department of Children’s Services or other agencies.
No decision has yet been made about whether criminal charges will be filed, according to the press release.
The dogs involved in the attack were euthanized, and the remaining dogs from the home were taken into custody by Tullahoma Animal Control while officials decide what should happen to them.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family cover funeral and memorial expenses.
“Please pray for the family of the victims in this difficult time as well as the first responders as they cope with the trauma from what they witnessed,” Northcott’s statement concluded.
