7-Year-Old South Carolina Boy Mauled To Death By Dogs While Searching For Pet

KEY POINTS

The 7-year-old was looking for his pet Chihuahua with his brother
The victim's brother managed to escape
The police seized five dogs and a puppy from the scene

A 7-year-old-boy was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in South Carolina while he was looking for his pet in his neighborhood.

On Sunday, Shamar Jackson and his brother were looking for their Chihuahua when a pack of dogs surrounded them. The dogs attacked the duo, tore Shamar’s clothes, and eventually killed him. The brother managed to escape.

“Shamar tragically lost his life earlier this week in a dog attack near Wilbur Road. Shamar was a straight A student finishing up the first grade at Lake View Elementary,” wrote the Marion County Sheriff’s office on a Facebook post.

“They couldn’t get away because it was so many dogs coming from different directions,” Carnell Jackson, the children’s father, told The State. “I didn’t think I would come home and find my son dead. I was just thinking he went somewhere and hid or jumped in a tree.”

According to Jackson, the dogs may have belonged to a neighbor and had come out of their yard through a hole in the fence. He said his wife was told by an unidentified man not to touch the body of the child until the police arrived.

“How are you going to tell her to leave her child there?” said Jackson, reported CBS-affiliated media outlet WBTW.

On Monday, Marion County police officers arrived with cages, taped the area and removed the dogs from the scene. Five dogs and a puppy were seized from a nearby property as part of the investigation, said the sheriff’s office. However, it is unclear if anyone had been arrested or charged for the incident.

Jackson said he wanted the dogs to be tested to check which of the animals were involved in the attack.

Anthony Parsley, the uncle of the victim, said the owners of the dogs had not apologized or offered their condolences to the family. “I’m hurt. I want to cry but I can’t cry anymore,” said Parsley.

Multiple agencies including the animal control department are investigating the incident.

Last month, two pet dogs attacked and killed a 10-month-old baby after the father stepped outside for a few minutes to move a sprinkler in North Carolina.