Pack Of Dogs Kill IL Man On Residential Street, Reports Say

WASHINGTON PARK, IL — A man was killed last week by a pack of dogs that neighbors say have plagued their residential street for years in downstate Washington Park, according to reports.

James L. Gibson, 68, was fatally mauled about 10:45 p.m. Thursday in North 49th Street’s 2100 block, FOX 2 reported.

Investigators believe the dogs are strays; however, neighbors told the outlet that the pack has regularly escaped a nearby fenced-in yard for roughly two years.

Google Street View images of the area taken in April show five dogs, apparently chasing the Google vehicle.

Aretha Harper told KSDK that three dogs came after her just hours before the fatal attack, and that the dogs are owned by a neighbor who is the landlord for many homes on the street.

“I really fear for my life now,” she told the outlet.

Officers saw at least five dogs at the scene on Thursday and shot three, but all of them escaped, FOX 2 reported. A crew from KSDK recorded at least two dogs loose in the area the next day, and Harper told the outlet she saw dogs outside on Friday as well.