Local News

Threat Over Cougar Shooting Alarms School

Audubon School Received Threatening Letter Over Police Officers' Shooting Of Cougar Nearby

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Parents of some students in the Roscoe Village neighborhood are meeting Friday morning with authorities to discuss an unusual threat that stemmed from the fatal shooting of a cougar by police nearby recently.

The principal of Audubon Elementary, at 3500 N. Hoyne Ave., said someone was upset over the shooting of the cougar on April 14 on the next block south, and wrote a threatening letter to the school.

The school is working with police to ensure the safety of families at the upcoming spring gala and fun fair, which is scheduled for the weekend.

Officers shot the cougar dead after it reportedly charged at them. Police Supt. Jody Weis and Mayor Richard M. Daley both defended the officers' decision to use deadly force.

But some neighbors complained the police officers were overzealous, and claimed that s many as two dozen shots were fired on the residential street. They said the cougar could have been dealt with using a tranquilizer instead.

Meanwhile, the cougar's cleaned bones and tanned hide will be stored at the Field Museum near a puma obtained in 1955 and the skin of a Florida panther from 1895.

While museum officials say there are currently no plans to put the animal's remains on public display, the cougar's bones and hide will be slotted away for future research.

Since being shot by Chicago Police, the cougar has undergone intensive study by biologists for the Cook County Animal and Rabies Control agency and the Brookfield Zoo. The researchers removed organs, teeth and brain to try to determine the animal's age and origin.

The Field's mammal collection dates to the late 1890s. Every year, nearly a thousand scientists request to either visit the Field's mammal collection or have portions of it shipped to them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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