SELMA, Calif. — Police are investigating after a group of dogs escaped from their California home and attacked a passerby, killing him.
Richard Barry, 59, was known as “Hutch” to his family, KFSN reported. Barry’s brother and sister-in-law were driving by and witnessed the attack.
The Selma Police Department said in a news release that when its officers arrived, the victim was still being attacked, and “an individual was attempting to separate the dogs from the victim.” Police said that individual was also bit by one of the dogs but suffered only a minor injury.
“If cops didn’t show up at that moment, I might have been in the same situation as Hutch, because they were just gung-ho focused on harming … and I have no idea what would make these animals do that,” Teresa Barry, the victim’s sister-in-law, told KFSN.
Selma police detective Matt Hughes told the Fresno Bee that the dogs that attacked Barry are English bulldogs.
Investigators said that the dogs live at a home nearby where Barry was attacked, and that the home has a sign reading “Beware of Dogs,” KFSN reported.
Police said in the news release that the dogs’ owner was cooperating with the investigation.
Barry’s family has organized an online fundraiser to pay for funeral costs. Barry’s brother, Ronny, who witnessed the attack, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and told KFSN that he was heartbroken that he could not help save his brother.