California man dies after being mauled by his three dogs in park: reports

A California man has died after he was reportedly mauled by his three dogs near a children’s playground.

Pedro Luis Ortega, 26, was attacked by his three XL thugs while walking at Mesa Viking Neighborhood Park in San Diego around noon on Friday, December 13, San Diego police said in a news release obtained by Fox 8 News, NBC told 7 San Diego and NBC News.

According to police, Ortega was bitten repeatedly during the attack. According to the media, a second person also suffered “serious bite injuries” when he tried to intervene in the attack.

Both victims were taken to the hospital, where Ortega later died, SDPD Officer Jose Perales confirmed to NBC 7 San Diego. The second victim’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. According to Fox 8 News, a child who was with Ortega was found unharmed.

Police reportedly tasered the dogs after they arrived at the scene, causing them to run away. Several other people in the park also reportedly tried to stop the attack using shovels and a golf club found at the scene, according to multiple sources.

A spokeswoman for the nonprofit Humane Society, Nina Thompson, told NBC 7 San Diego: “Upon arrival, our humanitarian officers worked together to locate two of the dogs that were still at large and seized a third dog that had been held inside “was.” a car.”

The three dogs were placed in bite quarantine before being euthanized on Saturday, December 14, Thompson confirmed. Her remains are reportedly being tested for rabies.

Witness Paul Ngo told NBC News about the attack: “I saw a person walking around with three dogs. I noticed he kept repeating, ‘Hey, be gentle, be nice.’ ”

Another witness at the scene, Steve Marto, told NBC 7 San Diego: “I just saw that (police) had caught something in the weeds here. “I initially thought it was a person because it was to set up a barrier,” referring to the trapped dogs.

The investigation into the attack is ongoing.

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“We are committed to conducting a thorough and thorough investigation into this incident, working with our law enforcement partners,” Thompson said, according to NBC News.

PEOPLE has reached out to SDPD and the Humane Society for further comment at this time.