Three pit bull mixes fatally mauled a 60-year-old man on a walking trail and then attacked a mother and her 2-year-old son in Harris County on Monday morning.

The attacks occurred back-to-back in a neighborhood off Morton Ranch Road and the Mason Creek Park North hike-and-bike trail, with the first mauling unfolding around 9 a.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt. Jason Brown of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said, “Witnesses reported an Asian male being attacked by three dogs.” The man, identified in official accounts only by his age, 60, was found dead after that initial attack.

Shortly after the fatal mauling, the same three animals approached a nearby yard where Blessing Okwunwa was with her 2-year-old son. Screams and barking echoed as Okwunwa said she fought to shield her child.

“I stood and hid my son behind me, but they kept backing me up,” Okwunwa said. She described the dogs closing in: “They pounced on my son and started biting him too.” Her son sustained deep wounds on his legs; Okwunwa was treated at the emergency room and later released.

Harris County Animal Control captured the pit bull mixes at the scene. The animals will be quarantined pending a hearing, officials said, while deputies continued to investigate multiple nearby scenes tied to the morning’s attacks.

The string of incidents prompted an immediate response from law enforcement and animal-control personnel as neighbors watched from nearby yards. Witness accounts and on-scene sounds of barking and shouting were noted by investigators as they pieced together the timeline that spanned the trail and adjacent residential streets.

Investigators are treating the events as connected; Sgt. Brown’s statement linking witnesses’ reports to the three dogs was among the details officials provided as they secured the scenes. Okwunwa expressed shock at the animals’ behavior: “I don’t know what they would have done to those dogs to make them so aggressive,” she said.

Families and residents in the area were urged to avoid the sections of the trail and nearby yards while authorities completed initial procedures. The dogs remain in custody of Harris County Animal Control pending the formal hearing that will determine their longer-term disposition.

Members of the public seeking more information about the incidents can review local coverage and the sheriff’s office statements. Local station ABC13 Houston provided early accounts of the mother protecting her child after the nearby fatal attack. Katy dog mauling: Man found dead, mother-daughter …

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Original reporting: view the original article.