MEMPHIS, Tenn., (WREG) — A man in Tennessee was mauled to death by two stray dogs outside his home Monday morning.
The man’s wife was also attacked by the pit bulls, neighbors said had been roaming the area.
Police said just before 11 a.m., officers responded to an animal injury at a local home.
When officers arrived, they said Sharon Williams was lying in the front yard of the home, being treated by the Memphis Fire Department.
According to reports, when officers went to the backyard, Robert was lying on his back with two pit bulls aggressively standing over him.
Officers said they fired shots at both of the dogs, killing them. One dog was located in the backyard near the Robert, and the other dog was in the front yard at a residence in the 2800 block of Curtis Street.
The MFD transported Robert, who had multiple bite wounds, to Regional One in critical condition. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
His wife was also treated for multiple dog bites on her legs and hip that may require surgery, but is expected to be okay.
A neighbor told police that she did not see the incident but heard both victims screaming.
“And I was sitting at the foot of their driveway, and I looked and I could see the tail-end of a beige brown dog, so I was like ok, there’s a dog on him, so let me go back in the house and I grabbed my phone and I called 911,” said Patricia Randolph, neighbor.
“The fire department and a patrol car showed up, and I’m yelling, ‘they’re in the backyard!’ ‘They’re in the backyard!’ so the police ran back there and de-escalated the situation,” said the neighbor.
Memphis Animal Services arrived on the scene to remove the animals’ bodies and scanned them for microchips, but did not locate an owner.
At Ridgeway Baptist Church, just minutes away from Robert and Sharon’s house, Senior Pastor, Mark LaRue reflects on the couple who were staples in the church choir.
“Robert played the bass guitar, Sharon plays the tambourine, and auxiliary percussion, sings in our pray team, they were both in the choir,” said LaRue.
“I would encourage people who know Robert and who know Sharon to reach out to her, minister to her, pray for her, and just know that Robert is in the arms of the lord tonight, and were grateful for that,” said LaRue.
The family’s neighbor said she would like to see the dog owners be held responsible.
“It’s not fair to the rest of the neighborhood that you’re a bad owner, now somebody has lost their life, because you were being negligent, and you can tell they belong to somebody. They didn’t have a collar, but they were well fed,” said Randolph.