8-month-old boy killed in dog attack near San Diego

Officers restrain one of three dogs seized after a fatal attack on an 8-month-old infant in Lemon Grove, Calif., Thursday evening.

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

An 8-month-old infant boy was mauled and killed by at least one dog Thursday evening in a San Diego suburb, according to the county Sheriff's Department.

Up to three dogs may have been involved in the attack, which happened just before 5 p.m. on the 3000 block of West Street in Lemon Grove, east of downtown San Diego, NBCSanDiego.com reported.

The circumstances of the attack were unclear, but deputies arrived within four minutes of getting the call, San Diego sheriff's homicide Lt. Larry Nesbit told?The San Diego Union-Tribune.

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The child was pronounced dead at Rady's Children Hospital, the?Los Angeles Times?reported.

Authorities confirmed that three pit bulls were hauled away from the scene by Animal Control officers, NBCSanDiego.com reported.?

"They were aggressive,"?Nesbit told NBCSanDiego.com. "They were restrained by animal control officers with the tools they have."

It's not clear if the boy's family owned the dogs or if the attack happened at their home.

"I can?t even imagine losing a child and to know that a family pet did it," next-door neighbor Regina Marlow told NBCSanDiego.com. "That?s horrific. I can?t even imagine what the family would be going through."

Neighbor Deirdra Canty said the dogs had been known to attack cats before.

"I don?t think that a dog like a pit bull, rottweiler, large dogs should be around little infants," Canty said.

Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from?Monica Garske and Lauren Steussy?at NBCSanDiego.com.

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