Enraged bull drags man to creek bed, stomps and mauls him to death, SC officials say

A man doing fence repairs at a South Carolina farm was dragged away by an angry bull and pummeled in a creek bed, according to investigators.

Brian Oliver, 54, succumbed to his injuries after being hospitalized for three days, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said in a news release.

The attack happened around 5 p.m. Sunday, April 28, when Oliver and another man were working at a farm on McGill Highway near Blacksburg, Fowler said. Blacksburg is about a 45-mile drive southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Oliver was reportedly repairing a fence post when the bull charged and dragged him into a nearby creek bed where he was stomped and mauled,” Fowler said. “The friend ran to help but was also attacked by the bull. A family member arrived on the scene and called 9-1-1 for help.”

The man who tried to intervene remains hospitalized, Fowler said. He was identified as Mike Carroll by WSPA, which reported he “pulled out a knife, and started stabbing the bull to get it off of Oliver.”

Oliver’s injuries included “broken ribs, two broken shoulders, and punctured lungs,’ the station said.

Megan Danielle Hughes, Oliver’s daughter, said in a Facebook post her father died just after 12 a.m. Thursday, May 2.

“He had been fighting so hard since the attack on Sunday, but passed quickly & peacefully after a beautiful prayer was said,” she wrote.

“This week has been such a blur, I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet ... Though he’s gone I know he will always be with me, since we were one and the same.”

An investigation is ongoing and will include an autopsy, Fowler said.

The fate of the bull has not been revealed.

This story was originally published May 2, 2024 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Enraged bull drags man to creek bed, stomps and mauls him to death, SC officials say."