CA Officer Kills Wrong Big Cat
Redlands, CA - 1/17/2004
By RICHARD BROOKSAND K. FRANKE SANTOS The Press-Enterprise
The mistaken shooting of a domestic cat is prompting Redlands police to issue binoculars to officers
involved in the hunt for a mountain lion that is believed to have been menacing residential
neighborhoods for at least 2½ years.
"We've issued binoculars to help them identify ... the animal," Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueerman
said Friday, a day after an officer killed the wrong animal. "It was a big cat, but it was still a
house cat."
Bueerman made no apology, however, for the decision to kill what officials view as a dangerous
threat to humans. Among the incidents:
In May 2001, a mountain lion streaked through a West Palm Avenue house in south Redlands and escaped
by crashing through a closed bedroom window - ignoring a sleeping 3-year-old boy.
In August 2002, a cougar crouched and moved toward two women during their early morning walk near
Prospect Park in south Redlands. Two weeks later, a cougar jumped or fell out of a tree, startling a
south Redlands resident who was walking his dog.
Twice this month, cougar sightings have been reported along Marion Road and Camelot Drive in
east Redlands.
"A (California Department of) Fish and Game biologist told us those are extreme warning signs,"
Bueerman said. "Our job is to protect the public."
The mistaken shooting happened Thursday after a resident reported sighting a mountain lion in the
Wimbleton Heights neighborhood in east Redlands, between Moore Middle School and the Ford Street
offramp of Interstate 10.
A police lieutenant authorized the shot after the officer confirmed that no people would be
endangered by the gunfire.
"He was 80 yards away from this thing, and it was down in a gully," said Bueerman. "I don't know
what to say. We're going to be more careful."
But the big cat still is wanted, dead or alive.
"If we find the animal in a residential area, and we can safely shoot it, that is what Fish and Game
has asked us to do," Bueerman said.
On Crestview Drive residents are taking precautions.
Since she heard about last week's attack on two cyclists in Orange County, Jill Fosse hasn't let her
two sons, ages 8 and 4, ride their bikes far from their home.
"I was actually very surprised" that there were cougar sightings.
Tara Lauw has not seen a mountain lion.
"I want to know how could a cat have been mistaken for a mountain lion," she said.
There are too many cougars and too little food, said Walt Scartaccini, who was conducting an
inspection on a house for sale. He said he couldn't blame police for shooting the cat.
"They have to be careful," Scartaccini said.
A Department of Fish and Game official confirmed that he has asked local police to find the mountain
lion and, if necessary, kill it.
"We made a concentrated effort to get the animal," Regional Patrol Chief Mike McBride said of an
effort to hunt and trap in September 2002 in Redlands. "We were unsuccessful."
McBride said his department has no plans to resume the hunt. Federal wildlife officials provide the
hunters under a contract with the state agency, he said, and the closest hunter is in Bakersfield.
Many of the local sightings are in residential back yards, McBride said.
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I think, its like wrong, to, like shoot one of, like gods creatures..I think we should,
like, hang crystals around our necks and, like offer good vibes to the Mountain Lions and,
like, put food out for them because they just, like have the munchies dude. Like cordially,
Ken (NY) Chairman, Department Of Redundancy Department
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