Chimp Stole Dart Gun

Police: Chimp stole dart gun, lunged at police officer before he was shot
New details released on the fatal shooting of 17-year-old chimpanzee
By Joshunda Sanders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, April 05, 2008

A chimpanzee that had escaped from a Bastrop research center in March snatched a tranquilizer gun from an animal attendant, leapt from a truck bed and threatened a police officer by flailing its arms before being shot several times, according to documents released Friday.

On March 12, Tony, a 140-pound, 171/2-year-old chimpanzee got out of the play area by jumping more than 15 feet from a jungle gym and grabbing the top of a corral wall. Tranquilizer darts failed to subdue him. A University of Texas police officer eventually shot and killed the animal.

According to a memo from UT police to executives at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which manages the Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, the officer who shot Tony watched the animal take a tranquilizer gun from an animal attendant who was trying to capture the animal according to university protocol.

The memo was obtained by the American-Statesman through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The police report does not name the officer, who has returned to duty, said Wendy Gottsegen, a spokeswoman for the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

"The officer was approximately 100 yards from the area and saw an attendant in one of the truck beds with a dart/tranquilizer gun," the report said. "After what appeared to be unsuccessful attempts to tranquilize the chimpanzee, the animal jumped into the truck bed and lunged at the animal attendant. The chimpanzee took the attendant's dart gun away from him and discarded it."

When the truck sped up, the chimpanzee either fell off the truck or jumped from it, according to the report. The officer, who had been watching Tony from property adjacent to the Keeling Center, said Tony started coming toward him, the report said.

"The chimpanzee started flailing its arms. The officer shouted at least twice that he was going to shoot," the report said. "In fear for his safety, the officer then fired several times, striking the chimpanzee."

The officer slipped and fell backward while firing his gun, but the chimpanzee kept coming toward him, the report said. The officer fired again but he did not count how many times he shot at the animal, the report said. The officer remembers "hearing each shot but not counting them because the threat was still coming at him," it said.

Tony collapsed into nearby brush. Tony's escape was the second of three by chimpanzees at the Keeling Center since November. Jake, a 17-year-old chimp, has escaped from his enclosure twice — once in November with another chimp and again Wednesday — but each time he was quickly recaptured. The center this week vowed to tighten security.

This was sent to me by a reader of Salisbury News.