A coyote bit a 4-year-old Washington girl on the arm, just inches from the front door of her home. According to KIRO, this incident is one of a number of recent coyote encounters and attacks in a Bellevue neighborhood. In response, state wildlife officials shot and killed one of the wild canines in recent days.

Chang Tong, of Bellevue, said he was standing just inside the door of his home when his young daughter took a step outside. They both saw the coyote and initially thought it was a dog. “She [was] about to pet on the dog at that time, and with just one second, the coyote just bit her hand and tried to drag her,” Tong said. “She was dragged to the ground.”

Tong yelled at the coyote to scare it away and fortunately, it worked. He took his daughter, who had minor injuries to her palm, to the emergency room where she received treatment for her injuries and a rabies shot.

Earlier that same day, in Factoria, a coyote approached a group of children who were waiting at a bus stop and tried to bite them, ripping some of their clothing. And the previous day, a coyote stole a backpack that had been left behind by a student on the sidewalk near Tyee Middle School.

A week earlier, a man in Factoria was bitten on the leg by a coyote, as was a woman who was sitting on her patio in Norwood Village. Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has killed one coyote they believe was involved, and is still searching for another.

“We have officers in the morning coming out here when the kids get on the bus,” Sgt. Carlo Pace said.