JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Three dogs attacked four children and one adult as they arrived at a Southside elementary school Tuesday morning.

The attacks occurred outside Hogan Spring Glen Elementary School on Beach Boulevard.

"One of the teachers told me to drop my bike and run," said attack victim Kristy Nesbitt.

Although Kristy did as she was told, she was bitten by one of the dogs.

"I saw that they had one second-grader ... she was on her bicycle trying to get away from the dogs, but it seemed like the more she tried to get away from her, the more they were kind of nipping at her," said Clayton Dudjak, a coach at the school. "By the time I got to the child, she had fallen off the bike. I was lucky enough to get the dogs away from her."

Jacksonville Fire-Rescue Division said two brothers, ages 11 and 9, were taken to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center for treatment of dog bites. The other two children were taken to see private physicians.

One man was bitten trying to get the dogs away from the children. The extent of his injuries and treatment were not known.

Rescuers said the 9-year-old had the most severe injuries, bitten eight or nine times, including bites on the shoulder and face.

According to the school's principal, the 9-year-old underwent surgery and is expected to be OK.

"They looked friendly, but then they attacked. That's what scared me the most," Kristy's sister Ann Nesbitt said.

Since the dogs were attacking children as they arrived for school, administrators were concerned for the safety of students.

"Our concern was to get the kids into the classrooms and keep them there to avoid any further attacks by these dogs, because they were not under control by there," Principal Jacquelyn Christopher said. "We didn't know where they were."

Animal Control officers were called to the scene and the school requested the assistance of the sheriff's Office helicopter to locate the dogs. The dogs, two pit bull mixes and a bulldog, were caught about an hour later and the owners were cited.

A crisis intervention team was sent to the school to see if any children needed assistance.

Animal Control said Tuesday was not the first time the dogs had gotten loose. Two of them were picked up earlier this month and reclaimed by their owner.

The dogs' owners face four civil citations. The sheriff's department is also investigation the incident.