Teen Saves Boy From Coyote Attack

A teenager saved a child from a vicious coyote attack in a Winnipeg, Manitoba, community last month.

Logan Funk said he heard a commotion outside his family’s home in Kildonan around 6:50 p.m., Saturday, June 24.

“I heard screaming and I ran out my door and I saw a 9-year-old boy was bit on the back of the head,” Funk told CTV News.

According to the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS), a 15-year-old girl and her 9-year-old brother were walking down the road when they noticed a coyote. They tried to run away, but the coyote chased them and attacked the boy, inflicting several injuries.

“In the two minutes after, it was still on that lawn and it was staring at us,” Funk said. “It seemed like it wanted possibly more. And then I grabbed a shovel and scared it off.”

After running the coyote off, Funk and other bystanders helped the injured child before emergency services arrived and took him to the hospital.

“I felt really scared for the boy,” Funk said. “Most people could defend themselves against a coyote, but not somebody like a little kid.”

Funk’s mother, Suzy Gerbrandt, said she was really proud of her son.

“Just watching him run into action… I saw him instinctually run without fear,” Gerbrandt said.

She said coyote sightings are common in the River East neighborhood.

“We’ve been living among coyotes and we just didn’t ever think this would happen,” Gerbrandt told CTV News.

On Monday afternoon, a Manitoba Conservation spokesperson told CTV News the coyote has been tracked to an area of dense bush.

“Once it is located and destroyed, it will be tested for rabies. Officers are committed to ensuring public safety while also educating residents how to coexist safely with coyotes,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Coyote interactions are uncommon, and, by all accounts, this is the first attack of this nature to be reported in Manitoba. Coyotes are generally timid around humans unless provoked or defending a den.”