Lux Blue/iStock(CHICAGO) — Chicago police spotted a coyote believed to be the same animal that bit a man and a young boy in separate attacks.
Officials said the coyote was spotted Thursday morning near Northwestern Hospital in Streeterville, just hours after a 32-year-old man went to the hospital after he said he was attacked from behind by the animal, according to ABC News Chicago station WLS-TV.
The coyote apparently ran past hospital staff with a limp and an injured paw near Fairbanks Court and Erie Street.
Prior to the attack Wednesday night, a 5-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital earlier in the day after he was attacked by a coyote, fire officials said.
The young boy was bitten multiple times on the head and face at around 4 p.m. in Chicago’s lakefront Lincoln Park neighborhood, officials said. He escaped the coyote’s grasp by fleeing to a nearby bus for shelter with the adult he was with at the time.
He was treated by paramedics on the scene and taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital in stable condition. He suffered “head lacerations” in the attack.
The coyote fled after the attack and has not been caught, police said.
Officials with the city’s Animal Care and Control told WLS that it was “extremely rare” for a coyote to approach or bite a person, but said residents should “take caution if they encounter a coyote and notify Chicago Animal Care and Control by calling 311.”
The circumstances of the incident are unclear and the hospital has not released any updates on the child’s condition.
Michele Smith, the alderman for Chicago’s 43rd Ward, which includes Lincoln Park, had sent a message to residents on Jan. 6 saying a coyote had attacked a dog in the neighborhood and others had spotted a coyote as well.
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