Gorilla Killing: Police Investigating Boy's Family

CNN ^ | Wed June 1, 2016 | Faith Karimi, Steve Visser and Holly Yan, CNN

[drewh]

Cincinnati police said Tuesday that their review will focus on the actions of the boy's parents and family. It is not related to the operation or safety of the Cincinnati Zoo, authorities said.

"After the review, we will determine if charges need to be brought forward," police spokeswoman Tiffaney Hardy said.

"If it is determined charges need to be brought forward, we would then discuss it with the Hamilton County prosecutor's office." The prosecutor's office declined to say how long the investigation might take.

Authorities have said the boy's mother was with the child when he slipped past a fence and tumbled into the moat.

Uproar and vitriol has poured in, especially on social media against the boy's mother after zoo officials killed the western lowland silverback to protect the boy.

Some suggested the boy's parents should be held criminally responsible. An online petition seeking "Justice for Harambe" earned more than 100,000 signatures in less than 48 hours.

"This beautiful gorilla lost his life because the boy's parents did not keep a closer watch on the child," the petition states.

Kimberly Ann Perkins O'Connor, who saw the incident, said the boy told his mother he was going to get into the moat. The mother told her son to behave before she became distracted by other children with her, O'Connor said.

"The little boy himself had already been talking about wanting to go in, go in, get in the water and his mother is like, 'No you're not, no you're not,' " O'Connor said. "Her attention was drawn away for seconds, maybe a minute, and then he was up and in before you knew it."

[TheDon]

Surprisingly the well researched article makes no mention of past issues. < /sarcasm >

[ElayneJ]

Then there’s no place that would be considered safe for children. We’ll need walls and glass enclosures everywhere for safety’s sake -

[kaila]

Would you take your child to a place where a moment of inattention ( tying your shoelaces, looking at your other child) would cause the death of your child? I think not. New pictures have been released of the fence, it was 3 cables , in which any child could crawl through.
If a zoo wants to have children visit, there needs to be an effort to ensure the safety of the children. A cable fence is not safe.