Mountain Lion Shot & Killed In Downtown El Paso

People are very surprised by this news of a mountain lion on the loose in downtown El paso but I blogged over a year ago about how I spotted a mountain lion out in far northeast El Paso, so I am not surprised by this news at all:

A mountain lion roaming Downtown El Paso was shot and killed this morning as it tried to flee the H&H carwash where it had been trapped.

The lion was first spotted at about 8:45 a.m., today in the railroad yard at the intersection of Campbell and Franklin. The lion then jumped into the trash bin area across the street at the state office building. Railroad police officers as well as state employees closed the doors to the state parking lot in hopes of trapping it in there.

The cat escaped, however, leaping from the second story of the garage and running several blocks to the Church of St. Clement on North Campbell Street, where it made its way through the property and darted through the breezeway of the parish school, while several children and teachers were conducting recess on the playground.

“I stepped out and the mountain lion ran right past me,” said St. Clement Parish School Headmaster Nick Cobos. “That mountain lion was scared. It just ran past the campus and did not stop.”

Cobos immediately initiated a lockdown of the school. Teachers and students hurried from the playground, rushing to get indoors and to their classrooms.

The mountain lion leapt over the school’s fence and ran into the H&H carwash, where employees and authorities rushed to pull down the business’ chains and contain the cat.  [El Paso Times]

You can read the rest at the El Paso Times link complete with video, but it is unfortunate that the mountain lion had to be killed, but I can understand the police concern for public safety if it was about to escape the car wash.