North Aurora dog attack: Officers shoot pit bull that attacked boy, then turned on its owner

NORTH AURORA, Ill. (WLS) -- Police officers were forced to shoot a dog after it attacked a child then turned on its owner in North Aurora.

Police said the dog attack took place inside a townhouse in the 200-block of Hidden Creek Lane Thursday afternoon.

Shattered glass at the townhouse was left behind after the terrifying, violent encounter left two people badly-injured and a dog wounded by gunfire.

"This was absolutely mind-boggling to me that he actually attacked a child with little provocation, if any at all," said the townhouse owner, who asked to remain anonymous.

She said her tenant in the Summer Wind subdivision in North Aurora is the owner of the dog, a 5-year-old male purebred pit bull named Maximus.

"He's around me and my 5-year-old daughter on a daily basis," she said. "He lives with us. He's around my cats. No problem."

She said her tenant's friend brought her 6-year-old son to the home and they were filling water balloons around 4 p.m. when something set Maximus off. The dog mauled the child, then turned on his owner when he tried to protect the boy.

"When the units arrived, they weren't able to get in," North Aurora Police Chief David Fisher said. "So the fire department breached the door, and one of the officers went in whereupon the dog charged him and four shots were fired."

"That didn't kill him, surprisingly enough," the townhouse owner said. "The dog was, I believe, walked out of the home after that or removed from the home alive, obviously with every intention of euthanizing him at the veterinary's office."

The boy and the man were both initially taken to Mercy Medical Center with multiple serious injuries. Their conditions, police say, have now been stabilized.