- Three-year-old boy was playing in his backyard in Carteret, New Jersey, on Tuesday when neighbor’s two pit bulls got in and attacked him
- Child’s mother tried to save him and was also badly mauled
- Victims’ injuries were so severe they had to be airlifted to a hospital, where the toddler later died
- Police officers who responded to the scene shot both dogs
A three-year-old boy from New Jersey has died and his mother has been hospitalized with serious injuries after their neighbor’s two pit bulls got into the family’s yard and mauled them.
Middlesex County officials say the attack took place at around 4.30pm on Tuesday at the family’s home on East Laurel Street in Carteret.
Neighbors say the young boy was playing in the backyard when the two dogs living nearby somehow got underneath the fence separating the two properties and lunged at him.
Jeet Devinder told ABC 7 NY he could hear the mother’s desperate cries ‘Help me! Help me!’ but no one came to call off the dogs. The family had only moved to Carteret from Brooklyn a month ago.
First responders who arrived on the scene found the victims with injuries so severe that they had to be airlifted to a hospital.
Aerial footage from NBC4 showed paramedics performing chest compressions on the child as he was being taken on a gurney to an awaiting Medivac helicopter. The toddler died a few hours later.
The mother remained hospitalized on Wednesday with severe injuries. Her condition was not immediately known.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims, but a long-time co-worker of the deceased boy’s father said the parents have three young sons.
‘They are from Pakistan originally and he’s a great family guy. He has three little boys,’ Jack Beyda told Patch. ‘He’s very, very hardworking. He worked very hard to provide for his family and he saved up enough money to move out here from Brooklyn; he saved up enough to buy this little house.’
Both dogs were reportedly shot by police officers at the scene of the attack. It is unclear whether their owner would face any criminal charges.
A neighbor who was familiar with the dogs said they never showed any signs of aggression prior to Tuesday.
Cartert Mayor Dan Reiman released a statement addressing the deadly dog attack.
‘Our prayers are with the family affected by a dog attack at a private residence on Laurel St,’ he wrote. ‘Thank you to the first responders who rushed in to attend to the victims, who are being transported by helicopter for emergency medical care. That’s all the information we have at this time.’
Reiman said that according to municipal records from the Carteret Board of Health, the dogs were not registered with the town, as is required by law.
