Police Say Chimp Grabbed Dart Gun Before Being Shot to Death

WOAI ^ | 04-06-2008 | WOAI

[holymoly]

AUSTIN (AP) - A report into the shooting death of a research chimpanzee says the animal threatened a police officer by flailing its arms.

The officer says he was scared and can't remember how many times he shot at the chimp.

The 17-year-old animal was killed last month after escaping from his play area at a research center run by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The report says the animal couldn't be subdued with tranqualizer (sic) darts, then grabbed the dart gun from an attendant and threw it away.

The report into the animal's shooting death was obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.

The officer who shot the animal has since returned to duty. He was not named.

[holymoly]

the animal couldn't be subdued with tranqualizer (sic) darts

Maybe they were using the wrong darts?

[DManA]

Cool under pressure.

The officer says he was scared and can't remember how many times he shot at the chimp.

[BibChr]

Okay, (A) I wasn’t there, and (B) I’ve heard chimps can be pretty fierce, but...

...I’m picturing coming home, having my wife ask me how my day was, and saying, “Oh, there was this really scary chimp. I was afraid. So I pulled out my service revolver, and....”

[Judith Anne]

Chimps are very very dangerous animals. We’re all so accustomed to seeing the trained chimps who look so silly and friendly, few realize that a chimp can easily kill a human; they are frequently aggressive, jealous, etc.

[martin_fierro]

You. Are. There.

[infantrywhooah]

He’s just lucky the chimp didn’t throw poo on him before he shot him. If he gets this rattled by a chimp, what’s he going to do when faced with a drug dealer with a weapon?

[9YearLurker]

If I were a chimp used in research, I think I’d be a bit angry too.

[Shryke]

You are aware that an angry chimp can literally rip your limbs off, yes? They are approximately 7 times stronger than humans.

[UB355]

How appropriate on the day it is announced Charlton Heston passed away.

[CindyDawg]

Would it be understandable if he was shooting at an approaching lion and was scared and didn’t count bullets? I saw a chimp one day try to jump a moat to get to visitors. He was mad about something and was flailing arms and showing teeth. I physically backed up and was relieved he didn’t make it.

[Lijahsbubbe]

A witness is cooperating with police

[WL-law]

Can someone diagram this sentence for me? It’s making my head spin.

“The report says the animal couldn’t be subdued with tranqualizer (sic) darts, then grabbed the dart gun from an attendant and threw it away.”

Writer of this article is pointing out mis-spelling by writer of ‘the report’, but the writer of this article can’t even construct a sentence properly.

[Judith Anne]

Chimps don’t need to be “used in research” to be killers. They are the same in the wild. Social structures and the threat of harm from other chimps more or less keep them in line, but they will kill meat to eat, in the wild.

[szweig]

After a certain age chimps become unmanageable and very dangerous to people. They are FAR stronger than we and are frequently hostile. Older chimps are always sent off to zoos; they are never seen in trained chimp acts. Too dangerous and volatile.

[docbnj]

An adult male chimp is much more muscular and strong than most humans. They also are not very friendly at all. They have big teeth, and their bite is full of pathogens.

Furthermore, those darts take time to act. The chimp can shake them loose before they have time to inject all the drug, and the drug itself may not act instantly.

What is a policeman doing handling such a case?

[csvset]

St. James Davis, 62, lost all the fingers from both hands, an eye, part of his nose, cheek, lips and part of his buttocks. He also suffered injury to a foot and his genitals. LaDonna Davis, 64, lost a thumb. St. James was transported to Kern Medical Center and then to Loma Linda hospital for further treatment.

When Chimps attack.

[rottndog]

How quickly people forget...

"James Davis (pictured before attack, left), who was visiting Moe -- a chimp who used to live with Davis and his wife -- at Animal Haven Ranch when two other chimps attacked, returned home Tuesday afternoon.

Davis, 62, underwent a series of surgeries since the attack. In June, doctors took him out of an induced coma and removed his breathing tube to speed his recovery.

"He's come a long way in what I consider to be a very short time," wife LaDonna Davis said Tuesday. "In reality, when this first happened, I thought this would take a lot longer than six months. He has a long way to go.

"Actually, he was over the threshold of dying. Doctors told me to make final arrangements."

While Davis was celebrating Moe's 39th birthday with his wife at Animal Haven Ranch, two other male chimps escaped their cages. They chewed off most of his face, tore off his foot and attacked his limbs and genitals."


http://www.knbc.com/news/4859146/detail.html

I think in the face of an uncontrolled chimp, I probably would have done the same.

[Squeako]

Overheard at the local PD hangout afterward:

Officer 1: Hey, I heard some chump flailded his arms, went for a gun, so you had to discharge your weapon.
Officer 2: It was a chimp.
Officer 1: Call him whatever you like.
Officer 3: No, it was actually a chimp going for his weapon.
Entire bar: BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Judith Anne]

A 17 yo chimp can easily evade and kill a man.

[CurlyDave]

Chimps are very very dangerous animals. We’re all so accustomed to seeing the trained chimps who look so silly and friendly, few realize that a chimp can easily kill a human; they are frequently aggressive, jealous, etc.

I remember a story a few years ago about a couple who had given up a pet chimp to a shelter because it had become unruly. They visited it, and it tore both of them up pretty badly. Bit the genitals off of the man. I think he later died from other injuries in the same attack. She survived, but lost fingers to bites.

Years ago I read that a chimp can hold onto something with one arm and pull the other hand in with 1800 pounds of force. Much, much stronger than a human.