5-Year-Old Brooklyn Boy In Stable Condition After Pit Bull Attack
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 5-year-old boy is now in stable condition after being sent to the hospital in extremely critical condition Friday evening following a pit bull attack inside an East New York, Brooklyn apartment.
Exclusive surveillance video captures the boy being raised into an ambulance outside his East New York home. His father falls to his knees and is consoled by first responders before falling again.
Police say just before 7 p.m. Friday little Jeremiah was playing with his two pit bulls inside the family home on Riverdale Avenue in Brooklyn when they turned on him and attacked.
"It's as tragic as it gets," one woman told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
"I've never seen the dog vicious or anything like that," Tarell Williams said.
Jeremiah was left with severe injuries to his face. He was taken to Brookdale University Hospital, and then transferred to Long Island Jewish Medical Center where he was awaiting a series of surgeries on Saturday night.
Neighbors became emotional remembering screams from the boy's father -- heard through the streets -- over his son's severe wounds.
"The father got the dog about a month ago, it's just, it's just, crazy. I don't know," neighbor Fawaz Oluokun said.
Authorities took both pit bulls away in crates. Now neighbors are left in quandary and in prayer.
"I'm just hoping that he makes it, is still alive -- because he didn't even get to live his life yet," Williams said.
Police say Jeremiah lives in the home with his parents and two younger siblings. It was not immediately clear who was in the room with the boy at the time of the attack.
Some neighbors said this case is a reminder that even seemingly well behaved dogs can be unpredictable.
"They have teeth, and they can bite, and they're very vicious, some of them," Dorothy Starks, of East New York, said.
"You have to notice the dog's behaviors before you bring him into a house with kids," Ben Engle, of Midtown, said.
Dr. Robert Glatter, of Lenox Hill Hospital, said adults must always supervise when dogs are together with little kids.
"You still have to be aware that there are risks to young children," he said. "They can put hands in the dog's mouth, poke the dog in the eye."
He said vigilance is needed to keep dog ownership joyful and not horrific.
About 17 hours after Jeremiah was attacked, a man was hospitalized after being attacked by a dog in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx.
