NEWARK — A 10-year-old child from the city's Ironbound is in critical condition this afternoon after being mauled by two pit bulls inside a city apartment this morning, Newark police said.
The child was taken to University Hospital with life threatening injuries after the 11:26 a.m. attack inside an apartment on Hawkins Court, police said.
Robert Michael Ricks said he heard the boy screaming and kicked an apartment door open around 11:30 a.m. when he found what he described as two pit bulls mauling and biting the child. Both Ricks and police said the child was at home alone.
"It was a bloody mess," Ricks said.
Ricks said he wrestled with the dogs for several minutes while the child tried to escape. At one point the boy slid past Ricks and fell down the stairs to the first floor of the apartment complex, but the dogs gave chase.
Police arrived shortly afterward, Ricks said. Police said they were dispatched to the apartment on Hawkins Court after a neighbor reported that a child was being mauled by dogs.
As the officers attempted to enter the apartment, the pit bulls charged the officers. An officer shot both dogs, critically injuring one of the animals, police said. One of the dogs was killed. It wasn't clear what happened to the other dog.
The child sustained serious injuries to his face and neck, Ricks and other neighbors said. James Stewart Jr., the president of Newark's Fraternal Order of Police, said the victim was so badly injured that the boy had "no pulse" at one point, but was revived by an emergency services officer.
"Today was a horrifying event that most first responders will never see in their lifetime," he said in a statement.
The boy lives in the apartment with his father, a local cab driver, according to Tatyana Polite, a 16-year-old neighbor. Polite and Ricks said the father normally keeps to himself and while the dogs often bark, they were not known to be aggressive.
When the father arrived home around noon, neighbors said he did not ask about his sons condition.
Anthony Ambrose, the Essex County prosecutor's chief of detectives, said his office is reviewing whether or not criminal charges are appropriate
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