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September 7, 2008 12:35:04 AM CDT

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Police Logs Detail Chaotic Response to Escaped Tiger

Posted Dec 29, 07 10:30 AM CST in US 

(Newser) – The first chaotic hour after an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo killed a 17-year-old man on Christmas is revealed in riveting detail in the transcript of the police log released by authorities yesterday. The report shows that zoo employees first thought the injured man who reported the escaped Siberian tiger was crazy, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, perhaps slowing the urgency of the police response.

The first 911 call, from a cafeteria worker who reported seeing a "very agitated" man outside the cafe, which was locked, screaming that he'd been bitten by a tiger. A second dispatcher's report said "Zoo personnel dispatch now say there are two males who the zoo thinks ... are 800 [code for mentally disturbed] and making something up ... but one is in fact bleeding from the back of the head." Police and fire crews were also stopped at the gate for several minutes by zoo security in lock-down mode, the report shows.

Sources San Francisco Chronicle, MSNBC

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Tatiana, a female Siberian tiger that killed one person and injured two others, is seen in the lion house at the San Francisco Zoo in this Sept. 6, 2007, file photo. (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle,...   (Associated Press)
A police officer examines a tiger enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007, in San Francisco following a Christmas Day tiger attack that left one person dead and two others injured....   (Associated Press)
Motorcycle officers prepare to enter the San Francisco Zoo on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007, to search for additional victims of Tuesday%u2019s tiger attacks. Tatiana, a 350-pound Siberian tiger, escaped from...   (Associated Press)
San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo discusses a Christmas Day tiger attack during a news conference on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, in San Francisco. Tatiana, a Siberian tiger, escaped from its enclosure...   (Associated Press)
Police Chief Heather Fong discusses a Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo during a news conference on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, in San Francisco. Tatiana, a 350-pound Siberian tiger, escaped...   (Associated Press)
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San Francisco  • police  • San Francisco Zoo  • tigers  • Tatiana


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