San Francisco Boy Dies in Dog Mauling

SAN FRANCISCO —  A boy was fatally mauled by at least one of his family’s pit bulls at a home near Golden Gate Park, authorities said.

The attack occurred about 3:15 p.m. about a block from the park, said San Francisco Fire Lt. Bill Wickliffe.

The 12-year-old, identified by school officials as Nicholas Faibish, was attacked in his family’s apartment as neighbors heard his mother scream, “Help me! Help me!”

A police officer shot a female dog to death when it wouldn’t allow him to enter the apartment, San Francisco Police Sgt. Neville Gittens said. A male dog was found inside the apartment and captured, Gittens said.

The dogs each weighed about 80 pounds, Gittens said. It wasn’t immediately clear if both dogs were involved in the attack. Neighbors said the dogs were pets of the boy’s family.

No one was taken into custody, but detectives were “conducting a homicide investigation,” Police Chief Heather Fong said.

Neighbor Aaron Vinnick, 11, said the victim lived in the apartment with his parents, brother and sister, and the two dogs. The boy was a sixth-grader at Roosevelt Middle School.

Asked about the dogs’ behavior, Vinnick replied: “Sometimes nice, sometimes mean.”

Not all neighbors agreed.

“The dogs were sweethearts,” neighbor Art Austin told the Chronicle. “I never thought they were vicious.... I would pet them and my wife would kiss them on the forehead.”

Paramedics tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the boy.

San Francisco has seen at least one other fatal dog mauling in recent years, the death of Diane Whipple in 2001, who was killed by two 100-pound-plus Presa Canarios.

One of the dogs’ owners, Marjorie Knoller, was convicted of second-degree murder and faces 15 years to life in prison.

Her husband, Robert Noel, was convicted of a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.