Jeff Davis Sheriff Preston Bohannon said the attack occurred just before noon in a playground area set up in the grandparents' yard for their grandchildren to play in. The dog, which Sheriff Bohannon said appeared to be a mixed breed dog with some bulldog bloodline in him, was a family pet that stayed both in the house and in the yard.
Family members said they had never had any issues with the dog.
"He was just a family pet," the Sheriff said. "The kids played with the dog."
"What triggered him, God only knows," he added.
Sheriff Bohannon said when the dog attacked the child, the grandmother got a gun and shot the dog, but not fatally, as the dog ran into the house after being shot. When first responders, including the Sheriff, arrived, the dog was in the house. Sheriff Bohannon said he and another first responder administered CPR on the child but to no avail.
When the Sheriff and other officers turned their attention to the dog in the house, the dog ran out of the house through the front door.
By then there was a crowd gathered at the residence with family, first responders, neighbors and bystanders outside the house, some of whom were in the front yard as the dog came through the front door.
"He came out the front door and posed a threat to everyone on site," Sheriff Bohannon said. "We had to assure the public's safety and we had to make sure he could not attack anyone else. We had to do what we had to do."
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