ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A 59-year-old man was killed in a “horrific” attack by a pack of dogs in a back yard next to a house where two dozen of the animals were kept, police said Thursday.

Officers responding to a call found eight or nine mixed-breed pit bulls attacking James Provost of nearby Schenectady at about 6 p.m. Wednesday. One of the officers fired his weapon to stop the attack, killing one dog and dispersing the others, Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said at a news conference.

Provost was declared dead at the scene. A caretaker helped round up the surviving dogs, which were taken to an area shelter. Their fate will be determined by a judge, Hawkins said.

Hawkins said investigators were still trying Thursday to piece together key details. They didn't know why Provost was in the yard or how he got there, miles from his home. And they didn't know why the dogs' owner, who lives elsewhere, kept 24 mixed-breed pit bulls at the house in a modest section of Albany. Fifteen of the dogs were puppies.

“There’s so many unanswered questions with this that that we’re trying to sift our way through,” Hawkins said.

Police are working with prosecutors and criminal charges are possible, the chief said.

“We’re going to do everything we can to bring justice for this person that was just viciously attacked,” he said.

Hawkins said police had received no previous complaints regarding the dogs, but he said police had confiscated several dogs there in May after search “due to drug activity.”

"These were not dogs that were kept in what we would traditionally associate as a family atmosphere,” the chief said.