When a Chicago teen saw a dog nearly attack a group of kids, he sprung to action, chasing the canine away with a broom and potentially saving his cousin from serious injury.
Monday morning, 13-year-old Jamal Anderson was inside his family's Englewood neighborhood home and his 7-year-old cousin, Karl Kelly, was on the porch with a group of children, WLS-TV reported. The kids were preparing to go to school when a rowdy dog suddenly appeared.
The dog -- that the news station noted could have been the same size and weight as Karl -- grabbed onto Karl’s backpack and wouldn’t let go. That’s when Anderson heard the ruckus outside.
"I just kept hearing the three kids yelling," Anderson told the news station. "They're all just yelling, screaming, crying and ... but they didn't know what to do because they're still young."
Anderson said he raced outside and saw the dog had cornered Karl. Thinking quickly, Anderson grabbed a nearby broom and hit the dog once, giving Karl enough space to get away without injury.
"Then the dog ran away," Karl said.
A surveillance camera caught the encounter on video.
Thankfully, only Karl’s backpack has bite marks on it. No one was hurt in the incident.
The broom is back on the porch.
"Thank God I left that broom on the porch. Thank God I did," said Anderson’s mother, Erica Clayborn.
The family said they’d never seen the dog and don’t know who it belongs to. They told WLS-TV they hope they never see it again.
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