Carlon Galloway, 19, was killed by dogs on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
Victim's Parents Speak Out
UPDATE 02/07/24: On Monday, Carlon Galloway's family spoke to East Idaho News to clear Carlon's name and provide more details about the violent dogs that took his life on January 31. Carlon was on a walk that morning when he was attacked and killed by a pack of 12 dogs, his father, Daniel De La Cruz and his step-mother, Linna De La Cruz, said. His sudden and horrific death came two days after Blackfoot police issued a news release that Carlon was wanted for an outstanding felony warrant.
Carlon attended Shoshone-Bannock Jr./Sr. High School in Fort Hall. He also worked for his father, who owns a roofing company. "He wasn't a dangerous, mean criminal," Linna said. He also wasn't a troublemaker. "He wasn't a kid that was going to start trouble," Daniel said. He was a good brother, and an amazing son. He wasn't perfect either. When he was 16, he crashed his truck and fled the scene. He was charged with felony alluding, which resulted in the outstanding warrant, his parents said.
The reason why he ran from police on January 29, is because he was visiting a home on Rice Street in Blackfoot, when police showed up to serve a warrant for another person at the house. Fearing for his outstanding warrant, when questioned by law enforcement, Carlon told them his name was "George" then took off running, Daniel explained. Neither of the two boys that fled the scene that day were in the possession of a firearm, according to his mother. "Carlon didn't carry guns," she said.
He ended up at his dead grandfather's home in Fort Hall. He ate breakfast at about 8:00 am then went for a walk. A few hours later, Daniel said, a family member who lived nearby saw a dog pack attacking something. She then realized they were attacking a person on the ground. She called Fort Hall police and the FBI. Carlon's biological mother called Daniel to share the awful news. "'He’s dead. He got attacked by the neighbor’s dogs -- a bunch of them. He’s dead,'" Daniel recalled through tears.
As in most fatal pack attacks, the dogs destroyed him and, in the process, stripped him naked. “I didn’t even recognize him. He was naked, and his body was just laid out face forward all muddy. I couldn’t even tell it was a body -- my son’s body,” Daniel told East Idaho News. Shoshone Bannock Tribes Fish and Game Department euthanized all 12 dogs. No information was provided about the "neighbor" who "owned" the dog pack. "Nobody deserves to die the way that he did," Linna said. "We loved him."
02/02/24: Teenager Killed by Dogs
Fort Hall, ID - The Idaho State Journal, reports that a man died after being attacked by dogs on the Fort Hall Reservation on January 31. The attack occurred around noon at a residence on Jim Road, two miles south of Blackfoot, the Bingham County Sheriff's Office said. The man died at the scene due to an apparent dog attack, Bingham County Coroner Jimmy Roberts said. His death remains under investigation. Several dogs were euthanized by authorities while Roberts was at the scene.
For Immediate Release - January 31, 2024
Investigation Underway Involving a Deceased Male Located on the Fort Hall Reservation
Fort Hall – The Fort Hall Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating a case involving a male individual found deceased in the Gibson District of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation today.
The FBI is the lead agency on the case. The individual has been identified, and the family has been notified. This is an isolated incident and there is currently no danger to the public.
No further information is being provided at this time. Any questions should be directed to the FBI. - Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
GoFundMe Identifies Victim
A GoFundMe identifies the Fort Hall dog attack victim as 19-year old Carlon Delacruz, who "passed away due to a sudden dog attack" on January 31, 2024. The fund links to the Idaho State Journal article. His sudden loss has "left our entire family in shock," states the fund. "Losing a son, is a parents worst fear and something that no one should have to endure, especially in this way." The fund asks for help in paying his funeral expenses. This victim is known on Facebook as Carlon Galloway.
A 19-year old male killed by dogs is so rare that we have no record of this occurring in the 19-year period of January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2023. Of the 734 total dog bite fatalities recorded during this period, 0% were 19-year old males. When including both genders and all teenage years (13-19 years), there have only been 9 victims, 1.2% of all victims. One of them was 13-year old Lyssa Rose, who was killed by a pack of vicious dogs on the Navajo Nation in Fort Defiance on May 16, 2021.
Fled Crime Scene Day Earlier
Two days before the deadly dog mauling, a felony arrest warrant was issued for Galloway after he was identified as a "subject of interest" regarding an incident that occurred around 10:50 am, where Idaho State Probation and Parole officers observed "several subjects fleeing the on foot of an active crime scene in the 300 block of Rice Street in Blackfoot," according to a Monday news release from the Blackfoot Police Department. Police did not say what crime Galloway is accused of committing.
One of those subjects may have been in possession of a firearm. Blackfoot police notified School District 55 administration of the situation and a decision was made for multiple schools to enact "shelter in place" protocols. One of the subjects, who was not armed with a firearm, was located on Monday at 12:00 pm. Galloway was found dead on Tuesday around 12:00 pm being mauled by dogs at a home on Jim Road. Police have not released any details about the crime scene on Rice Street.
Gibson District of the Fort Hall
The last capture of Jim Road by Google Maps was 2011. The capture only shows the 300 block of Jim Road at the intersection of Diggie Road. Two loose pit bulls are seen, apparently checking out the Google Street View vehicle. The dogs appear to be purebred, not pit bull-mixes. Thus, as far back as 13 years ago, full-blooded pit bulls were roaming the area. No other dogs are seen anywhere up and down Diggie Road. We hope the Google Street View driver did not exit the vehicle at that time.
Last January, 7-year old Kellan Boner was killed by four dogs on the Fort Hall Reservation. Those were pet dogs, not stray roaming dogs, and belonged to non-tribal members, Benjamin Dominick Wolfchild and Juliana Wolfchild. Kellan and his mother, also non-tribal members, lived in an RV behind the Wolfchild home. The four dogs, two rottweilers and two mixed-breed dogs, attacked Kellan on the front porch of the Wolfchild home. Kellan's mother sustained severe injuries trying to save her son.
A man was apparently killed by dogs on Jim Road on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
Google Maps only has a view of Jim Road from 2011. Nonetheless, full-blooded pit bulls are seen roaming the 300 block of Jim Road. No other dogs are seen in the area.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Fatal Dog Attacks on American Indian Reservations.Learn about breed-specific laws on Indian reservations in our Breed Safety Laws section.
Related articles:
01/24/24: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Boy Killed, Mother Injured by Dogs on the Fort Hall Reservation
07/22/22: Escalating Fatal Dog Maulings on Tribal Lands - Suspected Fatal Dog Attack...
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
Carlon Galloway, 19 years old. What a tragic waste of a life. At least authorities dealt with the dogs properly after the fact.
Quote: The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Fish and Game Department euthanized several dogs that were there. He added that numerous other dogs were seemingly watching the scene from the outskirts of the property.
“That was a little disturbing,” Roberts said.
Ya think?
I have a 19 yr old daughter. I can’t imagine the amount of suffering and pain the parents and family are going through. I can’t imagine losing a family member of any age in this manner. It’s unreal that this is a growing trend (dog attacks) and there’s not a huge outcry against it. It seems so preventable.
I find that human beings should never be killed by dogs.
Yet it is happening more and more often. I think many Americans have learned that pitbulls are dangerous. That fact is causing an increase in stray dogs. In addition, shelters are having big problems placing these dogs. I hope that some day backyard breeders will quit breeding them.
I also hope people will quit calling “shot by cop” euthanasia. Killing an animal for food is called slaughtering, not euthanasia. I truly understand that the dogs involved in this killing should have been destroyed or killed.
Euthanasia is supposed to be a kind act. Shooting is not euthanasia.
I keep hoping that someone will keep dogs from killing or maiming people. I think the wait will be a long one.
I am not picky about the method.
Just glad they are dead.
The dogs went much more peacefully than any of their victims have.
If firing squad is good enough for the condemned in Utah it is plenty good enough for at large pits.
“This is an isolated incident and there is currently no danger to the public.”
Wasn’t the deceased a member of the public?
Wasn’t he mauled to death by at large dogs?
Sounds like a clear and present danger to the public to me.
A very sad story. Thank you for the update, Colleen. I can’t understand why the owner of the dogs is not being discussed… do they not want him or her to feel bad, because they think of a dog attack as a “tragic accident” and identify with the owner? It seems like people think they have a right to own dangerous dogs; I think doing so ought to be treated more like drunk driving.