Newport Beach Police Shoot And Kill 3 Attacking Pit Bulls

NEWPORT BEACH (CBS) —  Newport Beach police Friday shot to death three pit bulls that attacked a woman and her son.

Newport Beach police were summoned to Marriott's Newport Coast Villas at 23000 Newport Coast Drive about 5:30 a.m. when a guest and her son reported they had been attacked by three pit bulls, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said.

The woman -- who was due to check out of the facility tomorrow -- and her son managed to get away from the dogs, who continued running along a golf course, according to Lowe.

The woman and her son were taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Lowe said.

Police shot and killed the dogs when they charged officers.

Witness Therese Sauders, visiting from Chicago, told CBS2 and KCAL9 reporter Stacey Butler that "I heard a blood curdling scream. And you could hear low pitched barking, so I knew it was a bigger dog."

An attack of this nature, at an upscale hotel, is an unlikely place for a dog attack. Says Sauders, "Unfathomable."

A  911 caller referred to the woman as "screaming frantically."

An officer encountered the dogs, two males and one female -- believed to have recently given birth -- on Newport Coast Drive just north of East Coast Highway, she said.

The officer got out of his squad car, but had to retreat into the vehicle and call for backup when the dogs charged at him, Lowe said.

The other officers, however, couldn't exit their vehicles to corral the canines in an area popular with joggers, cyclists and golfers, so a supervising officer authorized the use of force, Lowe said.

At least ten shots were fired, reports Butler.

Police were trying to locate the owner of the dogs, which did not have any identifying tags, according to Lowe.

Marriott declined to comment.

The extent of the woman's injuries is not known. Her son, reportedly in his 40s, was treated for a dog bite and released from the hospital.

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