Correction: Police originally said the infant was in the same bed as the parents, but later said the child was sleeping next to the bed.
HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Hampton police are conducting a death investigation after a child was killed in an apparent dog attack early Monday morning.
Police said they were called to the first block of Scotland Road around 3:15 a.m. for the attack and found the child and dog, a German shepherd mix, dead.
10 On Your Side has learned the baby was a newborn.
“My heart just goes out to the family, you have my prayers,” said a neighbor, who did not want to be identified. “It’s such a sad thing to happen to anybody.”
Investigators say the child had injuries that were consistent with a canine attack. The preliminary investigation showed the infant was sleeping next to the parents’ bed when the parents were awakened by a large amount of motion.
Police say the child’s father observed the “extensive injuries” to the child and immediately “euthanized” the canine.
Another neighbor who asked to not be identified said, “I was looking at TV, I heard like five or six gunshots and it sounded really, really close so I thought it was next door. I looked out the window and I saw the flashing lights, so then I saw the fire trucks come, the ambulance came and then I heard a lady crying.”
Police are still investigating and say the parents are fully cooperating. The dog had not been previously aggressive, the family says. Neighbors echoed a similar sentiment.
“The dog was not a vicious canine, it was a well-trained dog, he was a good dog,” said neighbor Ruben Lewis Pritchett. “They’re a good family and we talk to each other in passing and like I said, what happened so far is a tragedy and I told him he has our condolences and if there’s anything they need.”
Police say the family had the 8-year-old dog for some time.
Investigators say they do not plan to file any charges in this case.