Public Outrage Grows Over Law Enforcement Shooting And Killing Mountain Lion
ABC-7 has had a lot of reaction from viewers to yesterday’s shooting by police and a TABC officer of a mountain lion that wandered into Downtown and then Central El Paso.
Many are upset with how police handled the situation.
The Haddads, who own the H&H Car Wash, the business where the shooting took place, have also received a lot of reaction to what happened.
The female adult mountain lion, also known as a cougar, made its way through part of Downtown and Central El Paso, going from the State Building parking garage, up Campbell Street, through Saint Clement’s Private School, right across the street from H&H, and then to the stand-off that took place at the car wash.
A veterinarian managed to shoot the animal with a tranquilizer at one point during the chase, but it didn’t seem the phase the animal much after it was corralled at the car wash.
Witnesses at the car wash said after the vet shot another tranquilizer into the mountain lion, it ran toward a small opening in the fence and started to climb. And that’s when police say one of their officers and a Texas Alcoholic and Beverage Commission officer shot the animal, killing it.
The shooting remains under investigation. ABC-7 spoke with El Paso Zoo officials about the situation today.
“It’s a very sad situation,” said Zoo Curator Rick Lobello, “and one of the things that this mountain lion symbolizes to our community is that these animals share el paso with us. They’re here, we need to respect them, we need to teach our children what to do if they see a mountain lion on the trains in the franklin mountains and we need to make room for them because they’re part of the environment.”
Lobello went on to point out if you come in contact with a mountain lion, back away slowly. And if it comes toward you, throw rocks and wave your arms and try to chase it away, but never, ever run.
El Paso Police confirmed that they do have a policy when it comes to dealing with situations like this, but would not show ABC-7 the policy.
Related Link:Link:School Still Buzzing After Unexpected Visit From Mountain Lion
