By KRWG News
El Paso – A downtown walkabout proved fatal for a mountain lion killed by police in a West Texas city.
An El Paso police statement issued Monday says the cougar was reported wandering around a downtown intersection just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
An animal control officer and El Paso police trailed the big puma through a school yard, neighborhoods and business areas before cornering him at a business. Two tranquilizer darts failed to subdue the animal, so two El Paso police officers and a state alcohol control agent opened fire.
According to the statement, the shooting will receive an El Paso police review.
Such mountain lion sightings in El Paso are rare but not unheard of because of the proximity of the Franklin Mountains.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.