Bronx man mauled to death by pit bull, police fatally shoot dog inside apartment
BRONX (WABC) -- Police officers fatally shot a pit bull that they found mauling his owner inside a Bronx apartment.
The 41-year-old man was being attacked in his apartment on Simpson Street just before 3:10 a.m. Friday.
Two responding officers shot the dog to stop the attack. They say the dog, named Max, was biting his owners leg and neck.
"There was a girl in the apartment and she was yelling that he was unconscious and then was like oh, call 911, look he's unconscious, he can't get up. And that's when the cops finally came and they got into the apartment," said neighbor Gilbert Durecout.
The victim, later identified as Kaheem Robinson, died at St Barnabas Hospital.
The officers were treated for tinnitus.
The affordable housing building opened just last year and dogs must be registered with management.
Robinson's relatives say they were happy he finally had a place of his own after years of struggles. He previously lived in a shelter and two years ago lost an 18-year-old daughter to cancer.
The family says that Robinson may have gotten the dog to help deal with his grief.
"We just found out about the dog ourselves, so we aren't too sure, we're trying to find out who he got the dog from, but that's all we actually know," the victim's sister Kayesha Barnett said.
The incident is under investigation.
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