The Associated Press
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) -- A 150-pound mountain lion that had escaped from its owner’s car following a minor traffic accident was shot and killed by police after it became agitated and tried to jump on an officer.
The cat was hiding in the bushes of a residence Saturday night when an animal control officer fired several shots of a tranquilizer gun, police spokesman Tom Rhoades said. The mountain lion then became agitated and tried to jumped on a police officer.
Police then fired two shotgun rounds, killing the cat about 11 p.m., Rhoades said.
The mountain lion’s owner, Gary Dutcher of Fort Wayne, was returning from a veterinary hospital about 6:30 p.m., after receiving treatment for the four-year-old cat’s injured tail. The cat, named “Samson,” was riding uncaged in the vehicle when Dutcher was involved in a minor accident and his car slid off the roadway.
When Dutcher opened one of the car’s doors to check on the cat, it bounded out of the car and into the night a couple miles from Dutcher’s home.
Although the cat had been mildly sedated during its visit to the animal clinic, it was fully awake by the time the search began, said Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control Director Belinda Lewis.
Scott Charters, an Indiana Conservation officer, said the mountain lion was tame, yet it was still dangerous. “It may be a pet but it’s still a wild animal,” Charters said.