Mountain Lion on the Loose

A full-grown mountain lion led lawmen on a wild chase through downtown before it was shot and killed. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says the 125-pound female cat was first spotted near some railroad tracks around 8:30 a.m.

Witnesses later saw the animal in a parking garage of a state office building  the same building where TPWD game wardens have their offices.

A veterinarian managed to shoot a tranquilizer dart into the animal, but before the drug could take effect, the cat escaped back onto the street, with law officers from several agencies in chase. The mountain lion crossed through a school yard before it ran to a car wash Despite a second tranquilizer dart, the cat managed to escape out of that spot and was just about to escape again when two officers drew their weapons and fired.

City animal control will perform a necropsy on the animal to determine if it was rabid.