Raccoon attack: Home surveillance video captures 5-year-old girl attacked by animal while waiting for school bus in Connecticut

ASHFORD, Connecticut — A 5-year-old girl was attacked by an aggressive raccoon while waiting for the school bus outside her home in Ashford, Connecticut, on December 2.

Logan McNamara’s home surveillance camera captured the horrifying moment her daughter Riley was bitten. She told Storyful that her daughter went outside to wait for the bus and the raccoon was sitting on the porch.

The video shows the raccoon quickly latching onto Riley’s leg, who then screams and tries to shake the animal off. McNamara rushed to her daughter’s aid, grabbing the animal by the neck. She manages to remove it and at one point can be seen holding both the raccoon and her daughter. Once her daughter is inside, she throws the animal into her yard, where it can be seen wobbling.

“I heard her screaming and I ran out to see what was going on. I thought maybe she hit her hand on the door, I didn’t expect to see a raccoon attack her,” McNamara said. “If I didn’t have the video I wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly what happened, it all happened so fast.”

She told Storyful that Riley had several puncture wounds and said they both had scratches but were fine. She said Riley, who normally wears leggings, was wearing jeans and believes that helped prevent more serious injury.

McNamara confirmed they went to the hospital and said the doctor’s main concern was rabies because the raccoon had been outside during the day and was very aggressive, both signs of viral illness according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Connecticut.

Although they haven’t been able to find the raccoon to test it for rabies, she said they will be getting rabies shots in the coming weeks.