A grandfather and his three-month-old granddaughter allegedly died after a dog attack involving multiple pitbulls. Police arrived at a property in Tullahoma, in the US state of Tennessee, at 3pm local time on Wednesday. 

At the scene, they saw pitbulls “actively mauling” the baby, while the lifeless body of a 50-year-old man, James Alexander Smith, was found inside the property. Some of the dogs, the District Attorney’s office said in a statement, had to be “killed to stop the attack”. 

By the time the dogs were destroyed and officers could get to the victims, they saw that both Mr Smith and his granddaughter had sadly died. 

The office’s statement read: “This was an especially difficult and brutal scene. Please pray for the family of the victims in this difficult time as well as the first responders as they cope with the trauma from what they witnessed.” 

The surviving dogs, the District Attorney’s office said, were taken into custody by Tullahoma Animal Control. 

Authorities have confirmed an investigation has been launched into whether grandfather and granddaughter had died from their injuries or if they had died before the dog attack.   

A neighbour, Rebecca Adams, claimed pitbulls have previously gone after other neighbourhood pets and have been terrorising the area. 

Adams told WSMV: “They’d run after cats, they’d run after dogs, you know, animal things. I could see them be aggressive towards animals. Never did I think they would do that to the kids.” 

Another neighbour, Brian Kirby, claimed the dogs had a violent history and had murdered his pet cat.  

Authorities are reviewing the dogs’ history of aggression and whether prior issues involving the children and the Department of Children’s Service contributed to the tragedy, the Attorney General said.

Officials have not yet determined whether criminal charges will be filed.