'Rex,' the surviving family pet pit bull taken
into custody.
(ABC7) |
Raisa Akinshin lives next door to the Faibish family. She is still so upset by what she saw Friday afternoon, she doesn't want ABC7 to show her face.
Akinshin called 911 that day after hearing Maureen Faibish screaming in anguish.
Raisa Akinshin, victim's neighbor: "We ran out on the balcony, and we were screaming to her, 'Do you need help, Do you need help?" And then she opened the window and I saw all the blood."
San Francisco police discovered at least one of the family's two pit bulls had mauled 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish to death.
Akinshin says she liked Rex, the male, but found the female Ella standoffish. The night before the attack, she heard unusual growling.
Raisa Akinshin, victim's neighbor: "There was growling the night before, definitely."
Rex is being held as police evidence at the San Francisco Animal Care and Control shelter. Police shot and killed Ella on Friday when she blocked the officers' way into the apartment.
Investigators still don't know what provoked the attack.
Crime lab technicians spent some 12-hours collecting evidence at the scene. Forensic tests on both dogs also may help determine which one or if both of the pit bulls killed the boy.
Neighbors say the dogs and the three Faibish children were close.
Jim Al-Shamma, neighbor: "We'd hear them playing in the backyard. They seemed to be really close to the dogs. I'm really surprised by what happened."
But Akinshin says when she went to talk to Maureen Faibish on Thursday, she wouldn't let her inside.
Raisa Akinshin, victim's neighbor: "What she said, 'I can't let you in, I'm sorry.' She was very friendly, but she said, 'Because the dogs are here.' That's what she said."
The mom insists that she was never concerned about leaving her children alone with the dogs.
Maureen Faibish, mother: "Never, never. They're not vicious."
Last Updated: Jun 6, 2005