Apr 6, 2009 12:01 pm US/Central
Buffalo Shot Dead After Escaping Vrdolyak Farm
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (CBS) ―
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Police were forced to shoot former Chicago Ald. Ed "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak's buffalo in Benton Harbor.
The Herald Palladium
A buffalo that escaped from a Michigan farm owned by Ed Vrdolyak was shot dead by a police officer as the animial ran wild in Benton Harbor.
He was known as "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak for outrunning legal and political trouble in Chicago.
The law finally caught up with the former alderman, power-broker and candidate for Chicago mayor. In January he got probation in exchange to pleading guilty to federal mail fraud charges.
Yesterday, the law caught up with a buffalo that escaped from Vrdolyak's farm.
Police were forced to shoot the frenzied animal as it ran down residential streeets in Benton Harbor.
It took several bullets to bring down the buffalo.
An officer said he shot the animal three or four times, and it began to charge for him. The buffalo was about 10 feet from the officer, when he fired several more shots, finally killing the animal. The incident took place near a Bank of America branch.
Here are excerpts from the officer's official report:
"Due to the risk of public safety as the buffalo was running through residential neighborhoods and in and out of streets with heavy traffic, I made the decision to have the buffalo put down.
My first 3-4 shots went into the buffalo. The buffalo started charging me when I was about 25 yards away. After the first 3-4 shots it slowed down but kept coming towards me. When it was about 10' feet away, I fired several more shots until the buffalo went down on its side.
I knew that no civilians were in the area as I had already warned them to get back. In the event that I missed the rounds would have gone into the brick building which is Bank of America.
After the buffalo went down on its left side, I got up and reassessed if the buffalo was still alive or still a danger. I could still see the buffalo moving its legs. I announced that I would be shooting the buffalo several more times out of mercy to put it out of its misery. I then put four more rounds into the lung area. I fired a total of 12 shots at the buffalo, including the last 3-4 mercy shots."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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