HARRISONBURG, Va. — A police officer in Harrisonburg, Virginia, was in stable condition after having accidentally been shot during an attempt to contain a loose cow.
Officers were responding to an animal complaint Saturday night after a cow escaped a stockyard earlier in the day, the Harrisonburg Police Department said. The cow was running at-large in the northern end of the city. It was found near a 7-Eleven a short time after the call of about 10:30 p.m.
Officers intervened after ranchers were unable to capture and contain the cow and it became injured. During the episode, an officer was struck by a bullet in the lower body and transferred to UVA Medical Center, NBC News reported.
He is stable, alert and in good spirits, according to WHSV.
The department is investigating whether the officer was shot by a fellow officer or by someone else trying to stop the cow. It was unclear how many people with firearms were involved in the encounter.
Due to injuries sustained during the attempt to corral the animal, authorities decided to euthanize it.
