UPDATE: Owner of pit bull killed by police after attacking child now facing charges
Police shot and killed a pit bull in Virginia Beach after authorities said it attacked a male juvenile on Wednesday.
The call came in around 3:30 p.m. in the 5200 block of Richard Road, police said. That's near the intersection of Virginia Beach Boulevard and North Witchduck Road.
It was a first for Terri Hall, who has lived around Richard Road and Peregrine Street in Virginia Beach for eight years.
“I’ve never seen a dog attack, anyone, like only on TV, [but] not in person,” she said. “It was horrible.”
Police told News 3 the boy is believed to be 14 to 15 years old.
Witnesses said the boy was out waiting to pick up his sister being dropped off by a school bus, and standing by a power box, when the dog attacked him.
It’s unclear how the dog got loose and if it lived in the neighborhood.
“The little boy was saying, ‘Help, don’t let me die,” Tyjuan Walker said. “The dog was too vicious. I don’t know what was going on with that dog. I’ve never seen a pit like that before, so hyped like that.”
Both Hall and Walker immediately jumped into action.
“I just put him in a headlock, and i swung his a** around. He tried to get me while someone hit him, and then he fled, but then I got him off of the little boy,” Hall said. “My knees hurt a little bit, and he kind of ripped my [jacket], there was a little bit of blood on my back, but I’m OK.”
As officers were giving the boy aid, police said they were "confronted by the dog and euthanized it."
Police told News 3 an officer shot the dog twice and it died.
BREAKING: @WTKR3 has learned a pit bull was shot dead by Virginia Beach police this afternoon after the dog attacked a boy at the Northridge townhomes. The boy was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. Anchor @ZakDahlheimer and Photojournalist @JustinFleenor are on-scene. pic.twitter.com/aB727vKsgs
— John Cowley IV (@JohnCowleyIV) March 15, 2023
The boy was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Police did not provide any other details about his condition.
For Walker, he's thankful for neighbors, including Hall, who stepped in to save the teen.
“I’m going to be honest she saved that little boy’s life,” Walker said.
“I have a daughter, around about his age, and that’s all that I was thinking about at that time,” Hall added. “My adrenaline kicked in, and I just did what I did.”
This is a developing story, Stay with News 3 for updates.
