ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. -- A 6-year-old Elmwood Park boy was attacked by a raccoon on the way to school early Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
"His mother was walking the youngster to Sixteenth Avenue Elementary School when a large raccoon came running across the street, jumped on the child's back and began biting and scratching his face," Police Chief Michael Foligno told Daily Voice.
A neighbor, hearing the mother's screams, ran out, grabbed a painter's pole and knocked the raccoon off the child, Foligno said.
"He then proceeded to beat it to death," he said.
The boy was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with deep cuts, lacerations and bite marks on his face, the chief said.
"The worst appears to be under his right eye," Foligno said, adding that the eye wasn't injured.
Bergen County Animal Control took custody of the carcass.
"We should have [rabies] test results back by Friday," Foligno said.
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