PIT BULL ATTACK
A Bennington man has died after police say he was attacked by dogs in a Bryan County neighborhood.

Bennington police were called to Nail Street near North Ralls Street Saturday following an attack from two pit bulls and a mutt.

"Whenever me and my other officer arrived on scene, it was gory, horrific. The worst I've ever seen," said Bennington Police Chief James Heil.

Alan Bruce was flown to a Plano hospital in critical condition. He died just before 11 a.m. Monday.


Heil said when he and other officers arrived, the dogs came after them. Heil shot and killed the lead pitbull, causing the other two to run away.

Wright says he wasn't home during the time of the attack and thought he had the dogs on leashes in his yard.

"You're dang right I'm sorry. Hooty (Alan Bruce) was a friend of mine, man. He was a real good friend of mine. They (Bruce's family) know I would never want something like this to happen to anybody," said Wright.

Heil said a month ago Wright's dogs got loose and attacked a young girl near the fire station. She was taken to the ER as a precaution but wasn't seriously hurt.

These same dogs also attacked 14-year-old Zachary Burkhalter on his way home from school on Thursday.

"I was just walking home from school, like just a normal day. Out of nowhere, all these dogs just came up on me and started biting at me," said Burkhalter. "As soon as I left, they all came up. I had my baseball bat this time. I hit them and stuff, and they bit me right on my leg."

Heil says for now the dogs are still at Wright's house, and it will be up to the District Attorney if he'll face charges.

However, Burkhalter and his mother Amber Davis want something done now.

"I just hope that they get removed, or put up or something. We do not need that," said Burkhalter.

"The dogs need to die. They need to be killed because it's a continuous thing. It's not like it happened, one time, a freak accident. It's happened multiple times to multiple kids, and now there's a death in Bennington," said Davis.

Bennington City Council called an emergency meeting Saturday night to discuss the use of force. Heil says he was cleared for protecting the officers and the man who was attacked.

Bennington police will continue investigating.