Washington State 4-year-old boy attacked, killed by family dog on Halloween, police say

A four year old was killed after a vicious attack by a family dog on Halloween night in Spokane, Washington.

The Spokane Police Department said they responded to the attack a little past 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday night.  

Roger Hammers who lived next door told NBC Right Now that a set of grandparents lived there with their grandson.

"We didn't hear the attack, we didn't hear anything like that,” Hammers said. “We didn't hear anything until grandpa came out and was looking for someone to help."

Hammers, a nurse went over and saw the child in his grandmothers arms, surrounded by blood.

"It was incredibly difficult to watch that little guy fight for his life,” Roger Hammers said. 

The grandmother was applying pressure to stop the bleeding. Hammers girlfriend was already on the phone with 911 and Hammers at that point told her to tell them it was critical. They were there minutes later.

The dog was "severely injured and beyond help" in the attempts to rescue the 4-year-old, police said. It was euthanized on the scene.

The child was taken to the hospital but died as a result of the injuries.

Heather Sandy, who lives next door told KXLY she's known the family for six years and the child was "their whole life."

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'It's a tragedy. It's terrible'

"This little boy, he's got he's full of energy," Sandy said. "He was kind, loving."

Hammers told NBC Right Now, that the dog, a Pitbull mix, never showed any signs of aggression before.

"My dog and their dog would bark back and forth, I could reach over the fence and pet the dog, the little kid played in the backyard with the dog all the time,” Hammers said. “And that dog never showed any signs of being aggressive – so I don't know what happened inside the house."

Police said they don't suspect that any "criminality" was involved. This was just a "tragic" accident.

"It's a tragedy. It’s terrible. I'm very sorry to hear that he didn't make it,” Hammers said.

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