Coyote killed near site of attack on boy

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. - Police shot and killed a coyote today in an area near where a 5-year-old boy was attacked earlier this week.

It was not immediately clear whether the animal that was killed was the same one that bit Brayden Gazette as he and his sister were walking near their home on Monday.

Cindy Herrschaft, a spokeswoman for Middletown Township, said police had spotted "multiple" coyotes overnight and found one near the Earle Naval Weapons Station about 4:15 a.m. A police officer shot the animal about 500 feet from the entrance to the Navy property near Henry Hudson Trail, she said.

The body of the animal was turned over to a state fish and game officer, and was to be taken to a laboratory and tested for rabies.

After Monday's attack, Brayden Gazette was taken to a medical center, where he got 46 stitches in the back of the head and two shots for rabies.

Monday's coyote attack was the second in two months in the wooded, suburban town 40 miles south of New York City.