Boy killed, girl injured in dog attack

ATLANTA — ------------------------

A growing memorial now sits where a 6-year-old boy lost his life and a little girl was seriously injured when two dogs attacked them in their southwest Atlanta neighborhood.

The attack happened around 7:30 a.m. on Cerro Street while the children were walking to F.L. Stanton Elementary School.

Three children were present during the attack, but only two were mauled by the dogs.

Fulton County Animal Control officials said one of the dogs is a pit bull mix and the other a border collie.

The boy who died was identified as Logan Braatz, 6. The injured girl, identified as Syari Sanders, was listed as stable at a local hospital.

A neighbor detailed the moment neighbors rushed to save three children during the attack.

"I run up on the girl. She had been mauled very badly,” said neighbor Angie Smith. "I ran to the baby and when I looked down at her, I knew there was nothing that I could do."

Animal control was sent to the scene, where they contained two dogs. Sgt. Warren Pickard said one dog was shot by officers.

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The owner of the dogs, Cameron Tucker, was taken into custody but police did not go into detail about any criminal charges. Detectives spent the evening Tuesday scouring his house for any potential clues.

Shamonta Clayton, a neighbor to the children who were attacked, said he woke up this morning to screams and ran outside. He found a little girl who had been badly mauled.

“As I get to the end of the street, I see the child’s unconscious body laying in the middle of the street,” Clayton said.

He noticed another dog and followed it, finding children pinned on a porch in the back of an abandoned house.

“So I chased the dog away from the kids, and I noticed the second child, a little boy, his unconscious body laying down in the grass,” Clayton said.

The dog circled back to the child and Clayton said he chased the dog off with his gun.

“I picked the child’s body up because his mom couldn’t do nothing but sit there and just cry,” Clayton said.

Witnesses said the dogs were often seen roaming the neighborhood and were not wearing collars.

F.L. Stanton Elementary School released a statement regarding their students, which says in part:
"Atlanta Public Schools sent a crisis team to F.L. Stanton this morning to provide grief counseling for students and staff. Our deepest condolences go out to the family."

Cox Media Group