Colorado: Woman killed by son’s pit bulls in Conifer identified; deputies found her “barely conscious”

COLORADO -- A woman fatally attacked in Conifer on Monday night by two dogs she lived with was “barely conscious” when Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene.

According to dispatch archives captured on Broadcastify.com, first responders worked to keep her alive using a tourniquet as medical personnel rushed in.

“She’s barely conscious!” an officer called.

Ultimately, authorities say, the woman — 60-year-old Susan Shawl — died at the home where the mauling happened.

The sheriff’s office says it is still investigating the circumstances of the attack, which also left the woman’s son, identified by investigators as 36-year-old Richard Shawl, injured. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

Deputies responded to the 31000 block of Black Widow Drive about 7 p.m. after dispatchers received a 911 call from Richard Shawl reporting the mauling, said Dionne Waugh, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman.

The mother and son were attacked by two dogs that belonged to Richard, Waugh said. The sheriff’s office described both dogs as a terrier-pit bull mix.

“There were the son’s pets,” Waugh said. “They weren’t neighbors’ dogs who randomly attacked.”

Jefferson County Animal Control took the dogs into custody, officials say, and Richard Shawl as approved their euthanization.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says Richard Shawl was issued a warning notice in 2008 after a neighbor reported his dogs being loose and aggressive. The details of that warning were not immediately released.

Dispatchers told responding deputies that the 911 caller — who authorities say was Richard Shawl — said the woman was believed to be in the house with the dogs when the attack happened, the archives show.

“He said he is not sure why they are attacking her,” a dispatcher relayed from the caller’s reports.

First responders eventually ordered a medical helicopter to the scene once they were able to assess the situation, according to the dispatch recordings.The helicopter was, however, canceled not long after.

“This is a dog mauling, two pit bulls,” an officer called to dispatch after the chopper had been called off.

He added: “It looks like the elderly victim is gonna be a code Frank,” the sheriff’s office signal for a fatal incident.

Authorities don’t know what prompted the attack, the sheriff’s office said. Officials say the two dogs were the only ones living at the home.

Neighbors say the woman and her family kept to themselves. While the dogs had been there for at least eight years, Bonnie Bogart says they never saw them outside the pen in the yard of the home.

"I've never seen them loose and I've never seen them walk the dogs like everybody else in the neighborhood does. But they do occasionally bark," Bogart said.

Bogart also told 9NEWS the woman may have been wheelchair-bound, and lost her husband two months ago.

(Denver Post - Aug 30, 2016)