MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Following a dog attack in Hickory Hill, a child and two dogs are dead.
“Two dogs weighing over 70 pounds with a one-year-old infant, they don’t stand a chance,” Donald Redd said.
Redd is a dog owner and resident of Cedar Run Apartments in Hickory Hill.
Like others WREG spoke to, he said he was heartbroken after hearing the baby was dead after being mauled by two dogs on Friday.
“I don’t really understand what would make them turn like that on a child,” Redd said.
According to police, the dogs were attacking the infant when officers arrived.
Redd said he’d seen the dogs before with their owner.
“I used to see them walking them back and forth to the mailbox and around the complex,” Redd said. “But they didn’t seem like they were that aggressive.”
Officers reportedly shot and killed both dogs and the child was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Sadly, the baby died from its injuries Saturday morning.
Neighbors say another person was injured in the attack but police have not identified that person.
It’s unclear what may have triggered the attack.
“If they turned on the child and the owner, then they not safe to be around no more,” Redd said. “It’s almost like a person, You don’t never know what one is going to do from one day to the next. It all depends on how you raise them, their environment and everything else.”
Redd said his sympathies are with the baby’s family during this trying time.
“It’s sad,” Redd said. “I don’t know what the mother’s going through, but she’s got to be heartbroken.”
WREG asked the Memphis Police if anyone would face any charges. They said to check back Monday morning.