Jacksonville, Fla. — Action News Jax has obtained the police report for Wednesday’s bear attack at the Jacksonville Zoo.
According to the report, when officers arrived at the zoo, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department was treating a zookeeper for injuries to her back, thighs and head.
An officer spoke with a witness who said she saw the black bear, named Johnny, attacking the woman.
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She said she and her co-workers started throwing things at the bear to get it to stop until help arrived.
A member of the zoo’s lethal weapons team told police he waited for the veterinary team to get a tranquilizer gun ready, but feared for the zookeeper’s life. That’s when he decided to shoot the bear with a 12-gauge shotgun.
He said he fired four rounds into the bear’s head, chest and back.
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The bear was killed.
Zoo spokesperson Kelly Rouillard said, “It’s always heartbreaking and something we don’t like to do. There’s cases where this happens and we are highly trained, our staff is highly trained to handle these situations.”
The attack is still under investigation.
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