Man Who Needed Rescue From Snake Has Died

Police in Pennsylvania shot a reptile strangling Elliot Senseman
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 21, 2022 2:10 PM CDT
Updated Jul 25, 2022 12:18 PM CDT
Cops Gun Down 15-Foot Snake as It Tried to Strangle a Man
Stock photo of a reticulated python.   (Getty Images/Nynke van Holten)

Update: A Pennsylvania man who needed to be rescued from a snake last week has died from his injuries, reports the Morning Call. Elliot Senseman, 27, was being strangled by a large snake—possibly a reticulated python—at his home when a police officer shot and killed the animal to release its grip. Senseman made it to the hospital, but he died Sunday of "anoxic brain injury due to asphyxiation by constriction," according to the coroner. The experienced snake handler had been cleaning his snake cages when the creature attacked, reports the Daily Beast. Our original story from July 21 follows:

A Pennsylvania man has been hospitalized after cops shot and killed a snake they say was strangling him. CBS Philadelphia reports that police in Upper Macungie Township received a call around 2pm Wednesday about a man in cardiac arrest, with a snake said to be encircling his neck. When officers arrived on the scene in Fogelsville, that's exactly what they found: the 27-year-old man lying on the ground, unresponsive, the large midsection of a 15-foot snake wrapped around the man's throat.

Police say that one of the responding officers was able to fire off a shot at the snake's head without hurting the man under attack, at which point the officers were able to yank the man out of the snake's grip. The man was transported to a local hospital; there's no word on his condition. Police say they believe the snake was a pet that had grown quite large, per NBC Philadelphia. It's not clear what kind of snake it was, but it put up a fight to live, even after it had been shot. Lt. Peter Nickischer tells WPVI, "It wasn't like it just died. It started to slither away." The snake did eventually succumb to its injuries. (More snakes stories.)

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