Thursday's news in 5 minutes.

1. Dog attack kills a child, injure another two.

A young boy has died and a girl was left critically injured after two dogs attacked them on their way to a school bus in the US city of Atlanta on Tuesday.

The owner of the two dogs, Cameron Tucker, was charged with involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday after the horrific attack, local broadcaster CBS46 reports.

The dogs attacked the children, six-year-old Logan Braatz, and five-year-old Syrai Sanders as they walked along a street on their way to their school bus on Tuesday morning.

Logan’s mother, Angelica, told CBS46 she heard the children screaming and she and others rushed to help.

“I saw the one child laying on the ground and then everybody still trying to find the other kids,” Ms Braatz said.

She said that she was trying to find her son while helping other children, but he had been fatally wounded by the time she did.

A relative of Syrai said she saw a dog mauling her niece, when she and others rushed to fend off the dogs with sticks and bats.

Syrai was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

A third child sustained minor injuries in the attack, police said.

Mr Tucker was arrested and his dogs, described as pit bull mixes were caught and taken to a facility where they will remain while the investigation is underway.

Logan’s grandfather, Bryant Braatz, spoke of the “terrible loss” of his grandson.

“Very outgoing, he was the kindest soul you’d ever meet. He’d do anything for any other little kid,” he said.

2. Woman drowns in backyard pool in Queensland.

A 65-year-old woman has died after she was found floating in a backyard pool in the northern Brisbane suburb of Geebung.

Paramedics were called to the home about 9pm Wednesday night, but were unable to revive her, Nine News reports.

It is believed she may have suffered a medical problem while in the water, leading to her death.

3. Five-year-old girl found with methadone in her system.

A five-year-old girl found unconscious in the bed of her Sydney home later tested positive for methadone.

Police said the girl’s grandfather tried to wake her at her home in Quakers Hill, in Sydney’s west, around 1.30pm on Tuesday but she was non-responsive and having difficulty breathing, AAP reports.

The man called emergency services and began CPR on the child before paramedics arrived and airlifted her to Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Vials of methadone – an opioid used to treat heroin addict s- were found at the house when emergency services arrived, Hawkesbury duty officer Peter Jenkins said.

“One examination (at hospital) has revealed the child had methadone in her urine,” Insp Jenkins said.

AAP reports NSW Police’s Child Abuse Squad have been called to investigate.

4. Grandfather thwarts woman’s attempts to “kidnap” little girl.

A heroic man fought off a woman allegedly trying to kidnap his three-year-old granddaughter in a park in California on Saturday.

The girl and her sibling were near the duck pond with their grandfather at a park in Auburn, a city two hours north-east of San Francisco, when a woman allegedly approached them, police told People magazine.

The woman allegedly walked up to the three-year-old, called her by a different name and picked her up. Sensing danger, the grandfather then grabbed hold of the little girl to prevent the abduction.

Others in the park came to help the man and managed to stop her from fleeing while waiting for police to arrive, People reports.

The little girl was uninjured in the attack.

The woman, 28-year-old Lindsay Frasher, was arrested and charged with kidnapping.

5. Police hunt for gunman after targetted attack in Melbourne.

Police are hunting a masked gunman who walked up to a man and repeatedly shot him in a car park at a Melbourne shopping centre.

The 27-year-old victim was left with wounds to his lower body when he was shot at Campbellfield Plaza on Tuesday night and is recovering in Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Police told AAP the attacked was targeted and police are looking at CCTV footage and speaking to witnesses.

The gunman and two or three other men – all in balaclavas – then drove off in a white 4WD.

6. Hunter Valley bushfires treated as “very suspicious”.

Out-of-control bushfires threatening communities in New South Wales Hunyer region may have been deliberately lit, according to the Rural Fire Service says.

The Rural Fire Service said authorities were treating the fires as “very suspicious” due to their number and their proximity, ABC reports.

No homes were lost as of yesterday evening in a blaze near the small town of Kurri Kurri, but a mother and daughter had to be airlifted to safety after one of the fires got out of control near their property.

The RFS said more than 600 firefighters were battling at least 38 bush and grass fires across NSW yesterday afernoon.

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