Minnesota man dies after being attacked by 4 pit bulls

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — A man who was mauled by four pit bulls outside his suburban Minneapolis home died after suffering extensive wounds over most of his body, police said.

Dezmond R. Thomas Trawick, 22, died at a hospital Thursday about an hour after he was attacked in the backyard of his home in Brooklyn Center, police Cmdr. Tony Gruenig said.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office on Friday said the preliminary finding is that the death was an accident, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Gruenig said the dogs lived elsewhere and belonged to Thomas Trawick’s brother. Thomas Trawick was watching the dogs for the day when he was attacked.

Police said officers hit at least one of the dogs with a nonlethal round, which prompted the animals to run back into the home.

No one else was at the home at the time, Gruenig said, and investigators are trying to determine what prompted the American pit bull terriers to attack.

The dogs were being quarantined at an animal holding facility in Maple Grove. They will undergo a dangerous dog evaluation before their future is determined.

Four other people have died in dog attacks in the last 20 years in Minnesota, according to death certificate data kept by the Minnesota Department of Health.