BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — A 7-year-old who was hurt in a dog attack Tuesday is still processing what happened.
“I was just walking and then it pushed me and started attacking me,” said Yamah Yekeku.
She went to drop off a package at her neighbor’s home. Then the dog ran toward her.
“It’s is third time chasing somebody,” Yekeku said.
Her mother Mary Innis pointed out the scrapes on her legs and back, and the little cuts on her lips.
The dog who attacked her is a part of 13-year-old Yazmina Warsame’s family.
“She was really sweet, she was very playful,” she said.
Warsame said her dog’s name was Diamond, a 1-year-old Pitbull.
“Diamond didn’t mean to hurt nobody, she just wanted to play and they killed her for it,” she said.
Brooklyn Park Police and shot killed the dog because they said it went after another child.
“The animal actually ran into a playground area, a park area in an apartment complex and there were two young children that were in the park. The dog took off after one of the children and was trying to bite that child,” said Brooklyn Park Police Precinct Inspector and Public Information Officer Elliot Faust.
Faust said a cadet lifted the child up to his shoulder to protect him.
“The dog was jumping up actively trying to bite the child and that’s when one of our officers shot him,” Faust said.
He said the 7-year-old was treated for her injuries at the scene. Innis said she took her daughter to the doctor’s office on Wednesday to get a rabies shot as a precaution.
Tuesday’s incident was the second dog attack to happen within Brooklyn Park. A 3-year-old was attacked by two Pitbulls, last Friday. Faust said the child's injuries were extensive, and he's still recovering in the hospital. He said that attack was the worst dog attack he has ever seen.
“These are not common, they don’t happen frequently, so it is kind of strange that we’re talking about two in one week,” Faust said.
Faust want community members to be more aware of their surroundings and to understand their dog. He said they’ve had more dangerous dog designations so far this year than all of last year.
“As a dog owner it is your responsibility to take control of the animal,” Faust said. One mistake that happens can have tragic consequences.”
Warsame said her dog was just hyper. Diamond also had long nails, Warsame said they were planning to cut.
She’s heartbroken her dog is gone and doesn’t understand why police had to kill her. She wants people to know her dog wasn’t mean.
“People take advantage of the way a big dog looks, they don’t know her personality, so people might have called her mean and I don’t people to think Diamond is mean, and I feel like it’s important to share. She wasn’t a mean dog, she was never a mean dog,” Warsame said.