Dog who bit children to be put down

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) - Police say a Pit Bull who bit two children and was shot by an officer will be euthanized.

According to Lou Thurston with the Newport News Police Department, the dog bit two children in the 1100 block of 28th Street Wednesday.

Seven-year-old Mahagny, 5-year-old Antonio and 5-year-old Qui'Lek were playing outside when they say a Pit Bull came charging at them.

"I did stand there to see my two brothers," Mahangy  said. "I didn't know they were going to get bit and then it went to me."

It "nipped" Mahangy in the stomach and Antonio in the hip area. Qui'Lek  was bruised when he fell running from the dog. Thurston said the children's injuries are not serious. 

"The dog was on top of [Antonio]," their mother Veronica Ralph recalled. "[Antonio] was kicking, so that's why the dog just nipped his finger."

The children's father, Ricky Harris, and their uncle used a two-by-four board and a chair to beat the dog until police arrived.

"As I'm chasing the dog, it went to my daughter and had her pinned on the wall and bit her in the stomach," Harris said.  "Then I hit the dog again and as I'm striking him, it didn't phase him. It kept running around," Harris said.

When an officer responded, the dog charged at the officer twice in an attempt to attack him. Thurston said the dog left the area when an officer shot at the him three times. Harris said the dog was hit once.

The dog's blood trail was located from the 1100 block of 27th Street to the 2700 block of Roanoke Avenue.  The dog's owner has taken it to a veterinarian.

"We don't know if this dog has rabies," Veronica Ralph said. "I don't know if it got shots. I don't know anything, so we have to take precautions with our kids."

Thurston said as with any officer-involved shooting, an investigation will be conducted by the department.

The dog's owners will not be charged because they elected to have the dog euthanized, Kim Lee with the City of Newport News told WAVY.com Thursday. A rabies test will be conducted as standard procedure.