Officers Open Fire on Mountain Lion in Downtown Santa Monica

NBC ^ | May 22, 2012 | Jonathan Lloyd

[george76]

A mountain lion cornered in a downtown Santa Monica courtyard bolted after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, prompting authorities to use lethal force Tuesday morning, according to the California Department of Fish and Game.

"We were able to get a dart in the lion. At that point, the lion was making its way out into the street and then we really have to be concerned about public safety at that point,"

...

The male, 3-year-old mountain lion -- estimated to weigh 80 pounds -- apparently jumped over an eight-foot fence to enter the courtyard area

[thethirddegree]

Apparently the lion made ‘a furtive move’.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Meouw!

[old school]

80 pound, three-year-old male? Musta been a big house cat ‘cause mountain lions are much bigger!

[mgstarr]

Pretty wild - this is a short walk from my house.

[Navy Patriot]

Couldn't they offer the lion a child as a treat, and get it to go away?

After all the humans were encroaching on the lion's habitat.

[GQuagmire]

[Talisker]

"Officers deployed a shotgun as well as a rifle, and the animal unfortunately was euthanized and died at the scene," said Santa Monica Police Sgt. Robert Almada said.

A shotgun and a rifle.

No grenades?

[Misterioso]

Their crossbows were in the shop.

[miele man]

After watching the video on this, my first thought is this cat was not “euthanized”. While I don’t have the facts of this incident, I have to ask if the shooter actually hit the cat in the right place (or at all) with the dart gun? Did the Fish and Game people give it time to work? From the pix in the article, it surely looks like the cat was relaxed and comfortable enough to curl up in a resting/sleeping position in highly unfamiliar surroundings, ergo from the photographer’s position, a shot with a dart gun should’ve worked. Did the F&G folks panic when the cat began to move after being shot with a dart gun? Wouldn’t that be the obvious expectation, i.e., that it would try to move? Judging from the comments after the article, the natives are not too happy with the outcome, nor, possibly, should they be.

[SeeSharp]

80 pound, three-year-old male? Musta been a big house cat ‘cause mountain lions are much bigger!

Probably just a bobcat.

[muir_redwoods]

Did they run out of dogs to shoot?

[Misterioso]

Did you watch the video? Bobcat?

[MasterGunner01]

Santa Monica Police expended 1,138 rounds of ammunition to down the 80-pound mountain lion. The mountain lion suffered two hits, none serious, and is expected to recover. When asked about the number of shots fired at the mountain lion, an astonished officer said, “Mountain lion? I thought it was a large, funny looking dog. Gee.”/s/

[max americana]

Have you been to sta Monica? It’s fag city, and technically a border city of West Hollywood/L.A. They probably got bored ticketing Prius cars for speeding over 30 mph so they had to expend unused bullets.

[absalom01]

Nope.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Musta been a big house cat ‘cause mountain lions are much bigger!” <<

.
Not at three years. It was about average for its age.

[MasterGunner01]

I haven't been to CA since 2005 when I went to NAB Coronado (San Diego) for the Viet Nam Memorial ceremony. I haven't been to the LA area since 1987. Don't care. I will not be going to CA any more for any reason. I'm waiting for the Big One (9.5 on the Richter Scale) so it will give AZ and NV beachfront property.

[editor-surveyor]

All the “big one” is going to do is to raise the transverse mountains a little higher. (and collapse lots of houses built too ridgidly due to “siesmic” codes)
.

[max americana]

Well, at least wait for us Cali freepers like Jim Rob to get out first b4 wishing for the big one..