Illinois: Little boy, 6, Attacked by Neighbor's Pit Bull at Birthday Party; relatives beat dog with folding chairs to stop attack

ILLINOIS -- A 6-year-old Chicago boy is recovering after a dog seriously injured him on the South Side.

The boy was attending a birthday party Monday night when the animal began chasing the children on South Champlain near East 74th Street in the Park Manor neighborhood.

Tyler Williams, 14, took cell phone video showing the pit bull just moments before it attacked 6-year-old Armani McKinnis, severely injuring his face and leg.

The men are swinging folding chairs over their heads and then
slamming them down onto the dog to try to stop the attack

"He wasn't screaming or anything. He was just in shock because the dog was just yanking him from right here when he was on the floor," said Williams.

The video continues after the attack as it shows several people trying to scare the dog away with lawn chairs.

"They were hitting it repeatedly and the dog wouldn't give up. A man came out with a knife and threatened it and then the dog ran across the street," said Williams.

Moments later witnesses say, the dog, which was initially accompanied by another pit bull, was picked up by a woman in a red truck and driven away.

"It was so scary. I pray on the boy that he's safe and that he fight through this," said Kendall Moore, witness.

On Tuesday morning the boy's family was able to track down the dog's owner to a home four blocks away. They called police and animal control, but as it turns out, the owner had just turned both dogs in moments earlier. Still, Armani's aunt, who is also his legal guardian, says the owner needs to be held responsible.

"They chased the dog, but then they stopped chasing the dog. So then it's like, you let your dog get four blocks away to a birthday party, you know. The kids were just at a party, he's just there to enjoy himself and this is what happens," said Sindey Upchurch, aunt.

McKinnis is hospitalized at Comer Children's Hospital, where he underwent plastic surgery for extensive injuries to his face, legs and hand. He was in the intensive care unit on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to remain in the hospital for the next few days.

There's no word from police if the owner has been cited. Eyewitness News was unable to reach the dog's owner for comment.

 

(ABC7 Chicago - August 5, 2014)