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A grandfather and granddaughter were mauled by pitbulls on East Warren Street late Wednesday afternoon.

According to a press release sent by District Attorney General Craig Northcott, the Coffee County Communications Center received a call at approximately 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, regarding the “apparent mauling by pitbulls” of James Alexander Smith, 50 and an infant later identified as Smith’s three-month-old granddaughter at East Warren Street.

“Tullahoma Police Department immediately arrived at the scene and observed the pitbulls actively mauling the infant,” Northcott said. “The dogs were killed to stop the attack. Regrettably, it was obvious that both victims were deceased.”

Northcott continued and said the investigation is currently ongoing to determine the cause of death of the individuals, whether the mauling was postmortem, past violent history with these or other dogs in the home, current or past issues related to the children requiring intervention by the Department of Children’s Services and other potential issues that may have contributed to this situation.

“No decisions have been made at this time as to what, if any, criminal charges are appropriate,” he stated.

He added that the dogs involved in the mauling have been euthanized, and the other dogs in the home have been taken into the possession of Tullahoma Animal Control to determine the appropriate action to be taken.

“This was an especially difficult and brutal scene,” Northcott said. “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 investigation is being led by Inv. Jessica Taylor of the Tullahoma Police Department and being overseen directly by Tullahoma Police Chief Chase Sons and Deputy Chief Jason Kennedy.

Anyone with information regarding this situation are asked to contact either Taylor at (931) 455-0530, or Inv. Jason Williams or Inv. James Sherrill with the District Attorney’s office at (931) 723-5055.