PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A woman died after being mauled by three dogs in Portsmouth, police say. All three dogs involved in the attack have been humanely euthanized, according to officials.
Portsmouth police say officers responded to a home at 1815 Atlanta Ave., between Lincoln and Randolph streets, just after 1:30 a.m. and found the woman with serious injuries. She later died at the hospital.
At this time, no charges have been filed and police have not identified the victim.
Lawrence Davis, who lives across the street from the home, told WAVY’s Andy Fox that the victim was a visitor at the time and a man who lives at the home owns the dogs.
Jenkins originally said officers had not been to the home, but later clarified that Portsmouth Animal Patrol officers had been at the residence three times in the last 12 months. One was for a bite injury, Jenkins said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
The case is currently labeled as a death investigation.
“As Chief of Police, again, it is with profound sadness that I address the tragic incident involving the mauling of a woman by three dogs, resulting in her untimely passing,” Jenkins said in his statement. “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this difficult time.”
Neighbors describe scene of incident
An overhead view provided a view of the Portsmouth home where the fatal dog attack took place.
A backyard cluttered, some dog bowls, and the Atlanta Avenue home in the Prentis Park section of the city — now empty.
“They say the dog had bitten somebody,” Davis said. “The man who stays there in the back was asleep, and he woke up and the dogs were on some lady, and they say they bit the lady, that the dog bit the lady in the leg and the arm.”
Portsmouth Police confirmed that a woman was mauled by three pit bulls. Sources and neighbors confirmed her name is Cindy White, and she was pronounced dead at hospital.
“I can tell you the pit bulls are in police custody,” said Jenkins, who was out in the neighborhood Friday, later adding that “the pit bulls involved … have been swiftly removed from the residence and quarantined at an undisclosed animal facility.”
An eyewitness confirmed that White, known by the people who live in the house, walked in and moved the bar and speaker that was there to barricade the dogs in the back room. Then, she went into the back room, where she was viciously attacked by the dogs.
A woman who lives a block over could hear the screams.
A man who lives in the back bedroom that White was presumably going to visit heard the commotion and came out to fight off the dogs, but according to another witness, it was impossible to fight off the dogs.
In photos of the scene where White was attacked, there was a microwave oven that had been toppled from a countertop as the dogs attacked.
“Again, it is still early in the investigation,” Jenkins said. “Obviously animal control and my detectives are looking into the facts and circumstances surrounding it.”
Upon hearing White had been attacked by the dogs, some associated with her came over to the house and, according to neighbors, attacked the man who was sleeping in the back bedroom.
“Some people jumped on the person who lives in the house,” Davis said. “They blame him, and they beat him up … He was taken to the hospital … and I don’t know the status.”
Jenkins sent out a reminder “to not trespass or attempt to interact with animals without explicit permission from the owners.”
He also said police have been to this house about the pit bulls three times in the last year.
“Portsmouth Animal Patrol officers had indeed responded on three prior occasions over the last 12 months with one being for a bite injury,” Jenkins said. “However, it should be acknowledged that witnesses state the animals were secure when this incident occurred.”
Neighbors know all about pit bulls at that house.
“One time, a dog bit the girl in the arm and one day two boys were riding down the street on the bicycle and front door was open,” Lawrence said, “and the dogs ran out the front door, and they jumped on their bicycles and jumped on that car and ran on the lady’s porch.”