A 4 year-old Hazel Park boy died Tuesday evening after a vicious attack by a 60-pound, male pit bull that the family was temporarily looking after, police said.

The child's mother had tried to fight the dog off with a knife.

"A preliminary finding appears that this case was a tragic incident," police said in a statement emailed Wednesday to the Free Press. "The Hazel Park Police Department extends its sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased."

'A sudden attack': Police reveal details of pit bull's deadly mauling on boy

It's unclear, Hazel Park Police said, what led to Tuesday's attack, but at about 6:45 p.m., a 14-year-old girl called 911 to frantically alert police that the dog pounced on her brother, and their mom was attempting to stop the animal.

The family, police clarified Wednesday afternoon after initially saying that the dog was in an animal foster care program, had agreed to take care of the dog for a friend. The family had the dog less than a day when it attacked the boy.

A statement — with a $10,000 gofundme.com fundraising effort posted Wednesday to defray funeral and memorial expenses for Benjamin, the "sweet boy" the pit bull attacked — said caring for the dog was "a kind gesture to help a friend in a time of need" and the pet had "never shown aggressive behaviors."

By Wednesday afternoon, more than 140 donors contributed $7,342, giving between $5 and $250.

The fatal pit bull attack which is making national headlines comes just two months after the deadly, and high-profile mauling of 9-year-old Emma Hernandez and amid a long-standing national debate about how to protect people from dangerous breeds, that, in some cases even have been trained to fight other dogs.

Emma faced three pit bulls who attacked her while she was riding her bike near her Detroit home. It was a tragedy that Mayor Mike Duggan said was "felt deeply by everyone in our community" and needed to be reviewed to prevent it from happening again.

In September, a 3-year-old Detroit girl was treated at a hospital after a pit bull injured her.

In Hazel Park, police arrived at the East Woodruff home, they zapped the dog with electrical stun guns and it ran off. The boy, who had been mauled with injuries to his neck and body, was taken to a hospital, where doctors determined he had died.

The 38-year-old mother was hospitalized and treated for dog bites and other injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.

Police said in attempting to defend her son, the mother had stabbed the dog, which was later caught, taken to a veterinarian and euthanized.

Read more:

Chained and neglected: Detroit's dog problem persists despite child deaths

Dog injuries have long been a problem in Detroit, which has struggled to address dog bites and strays. More than 4,100 dogs were picked up across the city last year by Detroit Animal Care and Control, and each year hundreds of dog bites are reported.

In 2017, a pit bull attacked a then 11-year-old girl in Detroit, as a result her left arm had to be amputated.

And four years ago, 4-year-old Xavier Strickland was mauled to death by three dogs on the west side.

Officials tried in 2006 to put a pit bull ban in place that would impose costly restrictions on owners, such as liability insurance, and require visitors with dangerous dogs to get a permit. The proposal came in the aftermath of three high-profile killings in the metro area by dogs.

It failed.

Pit bulls, according to DogsBite.org, a Texas nonprofit that supports restrictive pit bull ordinances, are often used in dog fighting. Pit bulls, the organization said, also top lists of biting incidents in 19 states, including Michigan, and inflict some of the most damaging injuries.

Pit bull terriers, among other dogs considered dangerous, are banned in the United Kingdom.

But, groups that favor pit bulls say that the dogs have been unfairly portrayed as dangerous or aggressive and are victims of abuse, especially by owners who exploit for dog fights.

Moreover, these groups argue that pit bulls, muscular short-haired dogs, are not involved in biting incidents any more than other types of dogs. Restrictive laws and bans, they add, do not work because they don't address the real problem: irresponsible dog ownership.

As safety precautions, DogsBite.org urges people avoid startling a sleeping dog, disturb a dog while it is sleeping, petting a dog without letting it see you, putting your face near a dog, and turning your back on a dog and running away.

And, the organization cautions, if a dog looks like it will attacks, stay calm, don't panic, avoid eye contact, slowly back away, put anything you can between you and the dog, and if knocked down, curl into a ball with your head tucked in and hands over your ears and neck.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com. Free Press archives contributed.