Decision to kill lion correct, police say

Officials said the decision to shoot and kill a mountain lion in a Palo Alto neighborhood was correct, given the risk to public safety the animal presented.

“It was a tough call,” Police Chief Lynne Johnson said Monday afternoon, shortly after the animal was destroyed. “It was moving, jumping from backyard to backyard, and when the officer had the opportunity … .”

The officer’s shot ended a tense, urgent hunt that began at 4:45 a.m. when a newspaper delivery man reported seeing a mountain lion. A couple — Don and Mary Ganshaw — made a positive identification an hour later while walking the 500 block of Parkinson Drive.

The sightings ignited an extensive search by police, who were stationed at all nearby schools by 6 a.m. At 1 p.m., the lion was finally found in a tree at the corner of Walter Hays and Walnut drives.

According to eyewitness accounts, police officer Corey Preheim calmly raised an AR-15 assault rifle and fired one shot into the tree. The lion tumbled to the ground, scrambled to its feet and dashed about 30 feet before collapsing under a bush.

“I’m sorry I had to do that,” Preheim reportedly told a city naturalist at the scene.

Johnson said the decision to kill, rather than tranquilize, the animal was necessary to prevent any injuries to public bystanders. Officers throughout the day expressed concerns over student safety, given that schools were scheduled to end at 2:30 p.m.

“We did not want to risk having a child injured or worse — that’s why we shot it,” said Johnson, who added the department does have a tranquilizer gun in its arsenal.

Sandi Stadler, superintendent of animal services, affirmed that position.

“Given that we’re in a neighborhood with an elementary school getting out very soon. That weighed heavily on the decision,” she said.

“The tranquilizer was certainly one of our options,” she added. “Tranquilizers are a very inexact science. Depending on the animal, its metabolism, it could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes (for the animal to be put out) and it could need a second shot.

“If you don’t have a safe place when you hit it (with a tranquilizer), you have just created a very unsafe situation,” Stadler said. “Wherever it’s hiding, it’s going to sleep off the drug.”

Johnson added she had consulted with Interim Police Chief Bruce Cumming of Morgan Hill about three lion incidents he dealt with in the past year. According to Johnson, one lion required six darts before going down.

Terry Keible, president of the Palo Alto-based Wildlife Rescue, said there were no easy answers to the situation.

She said her organization is always concerned about the “human/nature interface. This was a very difficult situation where the two came together in a very dramatic way.”

The final whereabouts of the Palo Alto lion was discovered by Newell Road resident John Furrier, who had taken his 11-year-old Labrador, Kelsey, out to search for the animal. Furrier had paused to talk with Weekly reporter Don Kazak and photographer Norbert von der Groeben near the tree where the lion was later killed — the lion was believed to have been in the tree at the time.

Stadler said a cursory examination identified the lion as a fully grown adult that was perhaps 2 years old. There is no clear reason why the lion wandered into a residential neighborhood, although Stadler had a few theories.

“It’s all speculation, but it’s a good guess that it might have come down the creek,” she said. “It could have been following deer.”

Mike Phillips, a wildlife technician from Santa Clara County Vector Control, said young lions are sometimes abandoned by their mothers and have to fend for themselves. Driven out of hunting areas by more dominant lions, the animals sometimes end up in residential areas.

It was not known if the lion was unhealthy, or responsible for the attack on corralled horses in two earlier incidents on Stanford lands.

After the lion was shot, one resident expressed mixed sentiments.

“I just was surprised and torn,” said Anne Ackerman of Walter Hays Drive. “I hated to see it being destroyed.”

Staff Reporter Alexandria Rocha and Editorial Intern Jaime Marconette contributed to this report

Staff Reporter Alexandria Rocha and Editorial Intern Jaime Marconette contributed to this report

Staff Reporter Alexandria Rocha and Editorial Intern Jaime Marconette contributed to this report