A video was posted online that shows a Maryland deputy shoot and kill a groundhog that was trying to cross a busy road.
In the video, the animal can be seen trying to cross the road, as there is a traffic backed up of drivers who were waiting for the groundhog to try and cross.
As the animal tries to cross the street, it at one point seemingly charges toward the deputy, and the deputy draws his gun and shoots the groundhog.
As the groundhog tries to get up and walk, the deputy shoots the groundhog again, putting it down.
When the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputy happened upon the traffic on Old Liberty Road, near White Rock Road, he discovered the traffic was because of a groundhog was trying to cross the road.
The deputy said the groundhog was not acting normally when he was trying to get the animal out of the road, CBS News reported.
The Sheriff’s Office said the groundhog was “causing vehicles to stop and creating a hazard.”
The sheriff’s office said that deputy shot the animal, “believing the groundhog to be either sick or injured,” and then he “put the animal down for the public’s safety.”
Maryland deputy fatally shoots groundhog as it crosses road, video shows https://t.co/N5rsOa0OwC pic.twitter.com/C6x66iL3Av
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 9, 2018
A woman who witnessed the scene unfold took the video and posted it to Facebook.
She said she was taken aback and “did not think that it would take this turn.”
However, she said, in all fairness, the officer did the best thing in that situation.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement:
“The deputy was traveling on Rt. 26 in the area of White Rock Road when he observed traffic backing up along the road. He found that the groundhog in question was walking into the roadway, causing vehicles to stop and creating a hazard. He got out of his vehicle to assess, and as he tried to direct the groundhog off of the roadway, he realized that it was not responding as expected for an animal that was not being cornered or trapped. Believing the groundhog to be either sick or injured, the deputy then put the animal down for the public’s safety.”
