A 2-year-old boy is dead after being attacked by his grandmother's dog Tuesday in Frederick County, Maryland, and the animal is in quarantine, police said.
The child, known affectionately as Monkey, and his family, from Fauquier County, Virginia, were visiting his grandmother in Brunswick for her birthday party, Chief of Brunswick Police Kevin Grunwell said.
The boy had played with the dog, a pit bill and mastiff mix, all day, Grunwell said.
When the family was saying goodbye, the dog attacked the child inside the home, according to Grunwell.
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"They got along very well," said his great aunt Tammy Crawford. "We don’t know what triggered the dog. We didn’t think something like this would ever happen."
Brunswick police and Frederick County fire and rescue were called to the 400 block of West B Street about 5:15 p.m., the Brunswick officials said.
The boy had life-threatening dog bite injuries and went into cardiac arrest. He was flown to the hospital but pronounced dead shortly after he arrived, officials said.
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"He was very lovable; he's very shy," Crawford said. "He loved his mother very much. He was always with her."
His grandmother, Kim Russell, says being in the house is traumatizing.
"I just have flashbacks, real bad flashbacks on him, and everything," she said. "I mean, I can’t even go in my bedroom to get anything."
"He was my pride and joy," she said. "He knew that his maw maw loved to collect sloths. If we were in the store, he would point them out to me. He would come back, ' Maw maw, look.' He was just an angel."
Police and Frederick County animal control have launched an investigation. Animal control is assessing the dog's behavior and deciding what to do with it.
Stay with News4 for more on this developing story.
