Police shoot wild cougar on the loose in Chicago

Chicago residents today were puzzled, to say the least, by how a wild cougar had come to roam loose in the city's North Side and suburbs Monday. Officials on Tuesday defended their decision to kill it, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The cougar was a male wild cat, not an escaped captive animal, Cook County Animal and Rabies Control administrator Donna Alexander said Tuesday afternoon.

"He did not have any identifying marks as if he had been owned. He was a wild cat," Alexander said. "He was a pretty vicious guy out there in the wild, fending for himself, so the possibility of an attack was there," Alexander said.

Though it is still unclear where the cougar came from, by late Monday the animal lay dead in an alley, shot by police who said they feared it would attack them.

Chicago Police Capt. Mike Ryan said the cougar tried to attack the officers when they tried to contain it. Police said they could not tranquilize the animal because police officers typically do not carry tranquilizer guns...

"It was turning on the officers," Ryan said. "There was no way to take it into custody."

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Candice C. Cusic/Chicago Tribune

Comments

[CatGirl]

This is shocking. Why weren't Animal Services called as well? This beautiful creature shouldn't have had to die but could have been safely tranquilized and released back into the wild. Shame on the the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police.

[ralph l. seifer]

In Chicago the cops protect the citizens by shooting a cougar; in Santa Ana the cops protect the citizens by tasing a kitty cat.

[Animal Rights]

I am totally disgusted by Chicago Police and will report them to PETA for their horrible attack on an innocent animal. Do they not know what a tranquilizer gun is????? I cried at the injustice for this poor animal lost in a concrete jungle. I hope those officers can sleep safe in knowing that they were only protecting themselves and their pride while they could have waited for animal services to take the animal back to it's natural habitat. Foul and cowardices. And may I say stupidity.

[Val]

Uh, duh, did they really think that the cat was going to give up peacefully? Come here kitty kitty kitty....? Is there not a zoo equipped with a tranquilizer gun? I understand that this not an everyday occurance, but when you are making your calls, gathering your team, would it really take that much to put in a call to the zoo?

[Jim]

would you people please calm down and read the item. cops don't carry tranquilizer guns. and remember that this happened in chicago, not california. the difference is that in chicago (and the rest of the midwest where i'm from), the city and suburbs aren't right next to open space and hills like they are here. people don't get predator animals walking around their neighborhoods - in fact, it's pretty rare even to see a deer on the streets. cops, animal control, zoos and other authorities wouldn't have a reason to keep tranquilizer guns at the ready, for the simple reason that no one would expect a cougar to be in the streets of chicago. the biggest thing you'd expect to see is a raccoon. and the zoo is miles from where this happened; how do you expect to keep a wild cat cornered while the animal handlers saddle up and get through traffic on the dan ryan? think for a second, people.

[The Midwest]

I am posting from the Midwest and finally someone said something smart on this page. I don't think you would be worried about giving it a tranq standing 20Ft away. There were children walking the street after school going home. Sometimes there just isn't time to do the right thing just time to do the best thing.

[ERROL ROSS]

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT I AM A RETIRED POLICE OFFICER AND HAVE BEEN IN SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES AS THE CHICAGO PD COUGAR INCIDENT. I DO HOPE THAT THE OFFICERS EXCERCISED UTMOST RESTRAINT AND TRUELY FELT THAT THEIR LIVES AND OTHERS WERE THREATENED AND THAT THEY HAD EXHAUSTED ALL OTHER MEANS BEFORE DESTROYING THIS INNOCENT AND BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL.

[Kat Carter]

This is NOT okay in the slightest. He was lost and they responded by shooting him to death. He did not pose a viable threat. Guaranteed he was probably trying to find a hiding place. Working with and studying cougars for 13 years they try to avoid humans at all costs but because we are overpopulating on a massive scale and encroaching on their homes and territory, these visits are unfortunately inevitable. In no way are humans better than any other creature and if you think so, your guilty of specieism. Watch Earthlings on Youtube too, gives great facts.

[Real Person]

When did we as a society become more concerned with the life of an animal than a human life? I don't see how this could have gone any other way. Would you be saying the same thing if the cougar attacked someone while the police waited for a tranquilizer gun?

[Brown Line]

The cougar is a beautiful animal, true. It's also an exceptionally dangerous one, especially in situations where it is fearful, panicky, and hungry - as it must have been in streets of Chicago. As it happens, I live in Chicago, about a mile from the spot where the cougar was taken; it's maybe not as urban as midtown Manhatten, but it's close. Certainly, it's no place for a large predator like a cougar.

The police don't carry tranquilizer guns here - ordinarily, there's no need for them. They had two choices: shoot the cougar, or let it run free. The latter choice was unacceptable, given the danger a predator that large and that deadly presents to people in the area, especially to children.

It's a shame about the animal, but c'est la vie: it's natural selection in action. If this bothers you, well, I invite you, the next time a cougar shows up here, to fly in with your family, and let your kid act as bait for the animal-control people. I'm sure they'll even put a medal on his or her coffin. If you're not willing to do that, then don't expect that we'll put our lives on the line in order to indulge your sentimentality.

[T Wendell]

You people are crazy. A wild predator roaming the streets of Chidago and you are outraged that the police shoot it? Gimme a freakin' break.

But then again, Chicago has a lot of dangerous wild animals roaming the streets, except these are the two legged kind, right?

Like I said, you people are nuts.

[Skyler]

The instructions require commenters to be at least 13 years of age. I wonder if this is being observed by all commenters because I can't imagine an adult calling a wild mountain lion "innocent" while it's walking the streets of Chicago.

Mountain lions eat people. There's a place for mountain lions in this world. That place is not on Lower Whacker Drive.

[youngowens]

I live in Chicago, on the North Side, and I am glad the police shot the cougar.

I would be a lot sadder -- even sadder than the lamenting animal lovers here -- if, just for example, some 10-year-old kid got killed. Or me.

Cops have to make a lot of quick decisions. Sometimes, they are bad decisions. Our police force here is by no means angelic. All in all, though, this decision certainly was not a bad one.

[bud]

You folks have been watching too many Disney cartoons.

A cougar isn't a nice friendly kitty cat, it's a predator of large animals (like you), and is built to rip out intestines with a single swipe. It may or may not have been hunting for food, but if it felt threatened, it could do one hell of a lot of damage, up to and including death, to any person that got in its way. I'm not a big fan of police, but in this case, they acted correctly. If the cat had escaped their view and gutted a 7 year old on the way home from school, you'd be singing a different tune.

[exhelodrvr]

I bet those police are from Pennsylvania, and very bitter.

[colagirl]

Wow. Unfortunately cougars are fully capable of attacking, killing and devouring humans, especially if they have not been taught to fear or avoid humans. The book "Beast in the Garden" by David Baron recounts a cougar plague in Boulder Colorado where exactly that happened: reports of cougar attacks on pets and livestock were not taken seriously and led up to attacks on humans (including a young child who was permanently brain damaged from the assault) culminating in the killing and devouring of a male high school student. Cougars are not housecats. They are dangerous predators who are fully capable of seeing humans as prey animals, and need to be dealt with as such. Would it have been better if the police had tranquilized the cougar? Sure, but as mentioned, their options were limited, and IMO, better safe than sorry.

[Ed Nutter]

Well Kat, this particular cougar wasn't trying too hard to avoid humans at all costs. Chicago is a big place, and this kitty had to pass up a lot of opportunities to get back to the farmlands in order to get to where he was shot. Out here in the West, most cougars do avoid people, until they can find a smallish one by themselves with their back turned. Preferably a child. Much easier to kill and drag off for a couple of meals.

You may not have noticed, but downtown Chicago has encroached on habitat for well over 100 years now. This wasn't a new suburb hacked out of the primeval forest.

I am an unapologetic speciest, but consider. If a cougar mom killed some guy near her cubs, is that different from the police killing a cougar near school kids? If you think so, then you're guilty of speciesm, against your own species.

From an evolutionary point of view, humans are a pack animal. Like wolves or chimps, not like burros. We are the most extraordinarily successful pack animal in the history of the planet. So successful in fact that we can afford to not wipe out competitors, but rather preserve them and their habitat so long as they don't prey on us. But when push comes to shove, the pack deals with the threat. That's just tough for the predator.

[hitnrun]

People defending the cougar, please unregister from your local elections board and sign over power of attorney to a loved one, for the good of the nation.

Animal services were not called because IT WAS A COUGAR. It was not an "innocent animal," IT WAS A COUGAR. It did not suffer an injustice, IT WAS A COUGAR.

"He did not pose a viable threat."

IT WAS A COUGAR.

The cougar very naturally got lost. It very naturally threatened the people around it. The police very naturally defended their area, their lives, and the actually innocent children nearby and killed the dangerous animal. Before the dawn of environmentalism, humans and cougars were natural enemies. Nobody has since told the cougars that things have changed. What is difficult to accept about this?

[Chris]

Mountain lions usually find themselves roaming like this because they are pushed out of their preferred habitat for territorial reasons by other lions (human encroachment isn't the only factor). They are hungry and roam in unfamiliar areas, and seek opportunistic kills such as domestic animals. If they are unsuccessful, as one would expect them to be in a city, their increasing hunger likewise increases the risks they will take, which obviously leads to more danger for people. Regardless, they develop a dangerous tolerance to the presence of human settlement.

Commenter Kat Carter claims he didn't pose a viable threat, that they try to avoid humans at all costs. I don't know if Kat has personal experience snaring, tranquilizing (know how long until sleepy time?), and tracking cats. What about handling them? What about routinely dealing with local reports of run-ins with them? They are most certainly a potential threat to humans, even in the most rural areas. All this about human overpopulation and encroachment, being no better than the cats, it's all emotional mush. When you're presented with a situation like this, sometimes you don't have much choice.

[deltajohn]

Clearly the current administration is at fault. Global warming is driving these poor animals to metropolitan areas seeking water to quench their thirst. How shameful it is, as CatGrrl points out, that law enforcement didn't engage animal control and instead imposed their tyrannical approach leading to the death of this beautiful animal.

These animals know no better and should not bear a consequence as they attempt to adapt to a hot planet. We desperately need new legislation that prohibits any harm to displaced animals: polar bears, cougars, snakes, wolves, etc. It would serve as an appropriate wakeup call to have human children slaughtered by cougers and polar bears because of their protected relocation, and force people to accept responsibility for the harm we've caused this planet.

[Proud Specieist]

The sheer amount of stupidity in previous comments is mind-boggling. I guess no one bothered to actually click through to the Chicago Tribune article, which tells you that cougars are difficult to tranquilize, that this cougar was shot in Roscoe Village (which is a neighborhood of Chicago, not an outlying suburb "encroaching" on animal habitat), and that the cougar came from S. Dakota by way of Wisconsin. I guess it missed the memo that cougars are supposed to avoid humans "at all costs."

But by all means, let's rail at the Chicago PD, apologize for Chicago encroaching on South Dakota, insist that police set up a standoff with a wild cat while someone locates a tranquilizer gun, and (most comically) threaten to report these officers to PETA, who, presumably, don't read newspapers.

Nah, forget that. I say, bravo to the Chicago police department for not risking human lives or wasting police resources. Chicago cops have real work to do and people to protect -- if all you have is a wild animal on the loose, shoot it, bag it, put it in the trash. Being guilty of "specieism" is not something to be ashamed of. Most people refer to it as "sanity."

[D]

just thought I'd point out that since Chicago has been there for a few years, you can't really call this encroachment. There are places in the US where the Human/Wild interface is really close, but you would still treat the animal as a deadly threat. Since Chicago IS so far away from a wild interface, you don't have much choice but to kill such an animal when you confront it, unless you would rather bag on the ChiPD for failing to protect someone from a cougar attack. How would the news headlines read if a child was mauled by such an animal? If cougars avoid humans at all costs, how would this one go so far into the human shpere? Even using the forest preserves as a conduit, you would be running into humans for 50 miles or more from where it's hunting range would concievably be. Unless of course, this particular cat had become used to humans, and had started to live on the margins because it is an easy way to find prey. I wonder how many fluffy dogs and cats are missing in the corridore of his path. Once they no longer flee humans, sadly, there is only this solution. Releasing back to the wild, which, in honesty is 100+ miles from Chicago, isn't an option, because the cat no longer has the fear.

If you isnist on looking at this as the humans are just keeping all the happy animals from living good lives, you should consider the fact that humans are apex preditors. If we were actually wild, we would seek no balance. We would kill them all.

[coryjwilson]

Yeah, I'd like to see what all you tree hugging do gooders would do if a mountain lion was staring you in the face. I wonder who among you would want a gun.

I'm all in favor of saving any life form, but it just seems to me that some people have a healthy disassociation with reality.

People need to stop codifying the natural world. There's a huge tendency to turn animals into mythological creatures. This behavior is in total denial of reality. The reality is that a mountain lion would kill a child if the opportunity presented itself. Maybe some of us are a little too willing to sacrifice someone elses child. But I'd be willing to bet that if that was YOUR child you'd want that cat eliminated.

[Harry]

What a bunch of idiots. You shoot the damn thing and you are done with it.

[Don L]

There is no doubt in my mind where it came from. It obviously walked through the check point at O'Hare while the guards were busy checking a ninety year old lady for an explosive belt.

[Robert]

Wow. Once again I read a comment thread and am absolutely shocked by the number of crazy people out there.

first off, let me say that I've always liked animals, especially big cats. But I'm not thrilled with the thought of one wandering down my street. Cougars are awesome creatures, and they belong out in the wild. NOT in the windy city.

There are plenty of things out in the wild that can hurt or kill an animal. Nature and evolution tend to elect against these behaviors. Jumping from great heights, attacking poisonous animals, swimming across deep rivers are all dangerous activities that tend to be selected against. We're just adding "wandering around urban areas" to the list.

Hell, there MUST have been something a bit 'off' about this feline if, as someone has already said, most cougars avoid people. BEcause considering where he was found, this one was clearly not so anti-social. And in a world where the government wants to regulate what you can eat so you don't get too fat and have halth roblems, do you REALLY expect law enforcement to consider letting a large predator wander around a city an acceptable risk?

If Cougars are wandering into cities due to overpopulation how does it make any sense to catch them and drop them back off in the same overpopulated areas? That just maintains the overpopulation rpoblem that's causing them to show up where they don't belong. If they're overpopulated clearly they'e not endangered and it is, population wise, not dangerous to destroy those animals that leave their habitat to reduce the population and help along that natural selection I mentioned earlier.

And finally, to Cat Karter... "In no way are humans better than any other creature and if you think so, your guilty of specieism." If that's true, sign me up for a few of those "speciest" newsletters please. I walk upright, have opposible thumbs and sentience. My species has build marvels of engineering, reshaped the natural world, and landed on the moon. Over the same time frame cats have... Looked cool, hunted the same damn critters, and learned to lick themselves clean. Sorry, our record is a BIT more impressive.

[Affe]

I think what people don't realize is that NO ONE expects to see a large predator walking around the streets of a midwestern or eastern city. A few years back a coyote appeared in NYC for the first time in I don't know how long and it was as if a Martian landed. In CA, you're used to it - not there. As cougars spread back east, this type of interaction will become more common.

And I'm sure the PO's are sleeping quite well - I doubt they'll have to buy a drink in that neighborhood for a while.

[Dan O]

Let's make a deal. If I wander 1,000 miles into a cougar's neighborhood and am a threat to his kittens, he can eat me. If he wanders into a neighborhood that has been settled for 200+ years, we get to kill him before he harms our kids. People are more important than animals, every time.

[wyzbok]

I'm cracking up reading all the comments about the "beautiful innocent animal" ...what a bunch of whiney hippies. It's a dangerous predator. It could have killed any of those officers easily, not to mention any children who it might have happened upon. Beautiful innocent children. What is this country coming to when the life of an animal is given higher value that the life of a human??

[factfinder]

"Working with and studying cougars for 13 years they try to avoid humans at all costs"

Except when they attack hikers, joggers, campers? Go back and look up the number of cougar attacks on people and then try to tell me with a straight fact that they avoid humans "at all costs". http://users.frii.com/mytymyk/lions/beier.htm

Wild animals are notoriously unpredictable. Nothing like second guessing the police when you aren't on the scene in a heavily populated area. What if you were there and made the decision to wait until a tranquilizer gun arrived (maybe minutes later, or HOURS later)? In the meantime, the cougar attacks and seriously injures or kills someone. Maybe your PETA-mentality conscience could live with the guilt, but I doubt anyone else could.

"we are overpopulating on a massive scale and encroaching on their homes and territory"

I was unaware that the North side of Chicago was a known for being "cougar territory".

[right]

"In no way are humans better than any other creature and if you think so, your guilty of specieism."

If you would not kill an animal to save a human, I find you disgusting.

[Tennwriter]

Simce we are 'imago dei', then yes, we are better than cougars. But even if we were on the same level of cougars, a social animal would protect its own. Any social animal that does not protect its own has something wrong with it. What Kat Carter is really saying is that the cougar is better than humans, and that is speciest by the writer's own logic.

Congratulations to the CPD on doing the necessary and right thing, and most of America agrees with your actions.

[And]

what the hell!! i live in chicago and the chicago cops did not say anythig about the "cougar tried to attack the officers when they tried to contain it." LA times stop adding slander to this story!!
And ralph l. seifer the reason why A tranquilizer gun was not used because it will make the cougar run faster and attack some one and then pass out!!

By the way i live in rosoce village in chicago, the area where the cougar was killed, is full with families with young children and pets.Why don't you guy just think about that for a while.

[Ryan Waxx]

> He did not pose a viable threat

Please read the article before commenting on it.

On what planet is a wild predator animal turning on an officer not a viable threat?

Yeah, maybe the animal was scared. Did any of you geniuses figure out that maybe that makes the animal MORE dangerous, not less?

Stop Disneyfying wildlife, especially if you live in a city and haven't seen wild animals except in a zoo. A wild cougar loose in a city isn't Bambi, it is a threat, and possibly a mortal one.

[Justin]

This is just a complete a shame. The only cougar spotted in Chicago since the 1830's - killed. The police should be better trained to deal with animals like these because no doubt there will be more. They could have tranquilized it. It would not have attacked anyone, it would have ran away until it passed out. Most cops are D-U-M-B dumb.

[willis]

I can't believe these horrible policement just blatantly took the life of this poor innocent animal. It was probably just hungry and only wanted to eat them. I ddin't see a lot of blood on the fur, do you think I might could get the hide? It would go well with all the other animal skins in my den.

[Dougger]

Sometimes there isn't time to do the best thing, just time to do the right thing. Killing this couger was the right thing. This animal was not lost. It just found a new environment to exploit. It would have no compunction against eating domesticated animals or small children. Cougers are well known to occasionally attack and eat people. Cougers are not endangered. In some western states, they are hunted. Better to shoot it and eliminate the threat it posed. If you tranq'd it and moved it out of the city, it likely would return to a populated area where it has learned there is easy food available.

[Michael]

Hey Chicago cops!

Are you intending to shoot stray dogs or cats if they are threatening you? Coyotes and cougars are trying to adapt their lives because of human population spreading everywhere. I believe those creatures are preying on stray dogs and cats that are unwanted in Chicago I learned that in California. That is how the creatures were invited to go after the stray animals by nature. The animal services should have put their efforts to take them out so the coyotes and cougars won't be around. It's rather sad to see the cougar got killed. It passed a cop by few feet and didn't attack him. It just tried to get away. I heard some cops carrying tazer guns. No one seemed trying to use it for once. I do seeing those cops were so frenzy to chase it down as if it is chasing the dangerous fugitive. I think you were too way overreacted to shoot it down.

I encountered a timber wolf by only few feet away. My snowmobile was broken down so I pulled my wrench. I banged on the snowmobile with it. The noise annoyed the wolf. It got away. I was so calm. In my opinion, the gun made you power and protected. I never own the gun, never will own it. You should be calm encountering the poor cougar. Shooting the wild animal was totally unnessecary. I don't care about your proper training as the cop. Use your human feeling toward the animals over the gun.

[notahack]

I seem to think some of you would of preferred that cougar mauled or killed a policeman or a child. Sorry to be a human bigot but I don't think I would have a moment of lost sleep shooting that adorable BIG TOOTHY kitty. Oh wait this is Chicago. Makes sense to me now.

[Chris]

In the cops defense, you can shoot tranquilizers all day, but when a wild cat comes at you, you really can't mess around. Chicago Police arent really prepared for freaking cougars running around. Its absurd.

[James C. Finucane]

You may be aware that CO has man eating cougars, particularly in the Boulder area.

[Oligonicella]

Kat Carter -- You might tell that to the grown woman in California, killed and partially eaten by a couger. There have been 73 attacks from '91 to '03.

This did not occur because of encroachment, this happened in Chicago. Quit throwing straw. In a crowed city with small children, your concern should be for the children.

"Specieism" is a term coined by people who have a low value for humans, not a high value for animals.

[John P]

Well as for the tranquilizer comments,
"Animal control" in Crook county has mostly gotten out of the business of capturing live wild animals. If they had anything it would be suitable for fox, skunk, raccoon, or possum that a resident was willing to pay extra to have dealt with.
The tax dollars fund mostly nepotism, animal activist scenicures, and capturing people's lost pets before they can do so themselves (for hefty fines).
As there are no wild predators native to the area in at least a hundred years or so, they no longer prepare for bears and wolf packs. A large tranquilizer would have to come from the zoo as would a marksman familiar with the really piss-poor trajectory of a trank air gun.
For Kat, the borders of the Chicago megaplex haven't moved much since the death of the late Mayor Daley.

[GMC70]

" . . . guilty of specieism."

ROFLMAO!!!

Oh NO! Not Specieism! HOW WILL I LIVE WITH MYSELF!!

Uh, just fine, thanks. We didn't fight out way to the top of the food chain to surrender to any kitty that passes by.

This is an easy call, though certainly an unfortunate one. This cat was dangerous. If it could not be quickly tranquialized (and it could not - there were no tranquilizers available), then police did what they had to do: protect HUMAN life over the lives of other lesser animals. It's quite sad, and I wish very much it was not necessary, but wishing would not make it so.

Now, pass down that burger . . .

[Mary Ewing]

I think it is very sad that a beautiful wild creature has been shot in a city area. How on earth did it get there?
I think the police did the only thing that they could in these circumstances, and I do not say that lightly. People could have panicked and made the cougar more anxious and harder to control. How on earth did it get there, though?
Here in the UK, our cities have sprawled out and into countryside and animal habitats, but some of your correspondents do not think this is the case. Has someone been trying to illegally trap wild animals and lost control of this one? We have illegally imported wild animals in some parts of the UK, evading capture and sometimes making the news. Some idiots simply let creatures go if things go wrong. Here in NW Kent we have sightings of what looks like a black panther, and we certainly do not have them in the UK. I am sorry for the cat, and for the police, but grateful that there were no further casualties. I hope this is investigated further.

[IonaTrailer]

While it may seem completely weird that there was a WILD cougar loose in Chicago, (not an escaped pet), it is totally logical when you consider the literally thousands of DEER running around the many forest preserves that run through Cook County. The forest preserves follow the course of the rivers, and are virtual deer freeways. The deer become completely accustomed to people and wander around neighborhoods in search of the best roses. They are a huge hazard to motorists. Every year hundreds are hit by cars, and they are pretty much a big nuisance. Now, I like deer, and I like cougars even more, but I understand why the cougar was there and that there are probably more of them.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and when you have an out of control food supply, (and let's not forget the freaking Canadian geese that are poop machines), nature is going to send in the predators. (Cue up "Send in the Clowns" in the background).
The cops had no other alternative, and it's sad, but what are you going to do? Take a chance on it getting away and then have the possibility of someone getting hurt?

[ionatrailer]

There are some posters here who clearly have never been to Chicago in the summer - lots of vegetation and no hunters = deer population explosion = attracting predators.

Next winter I expect to see packs of wolves chasing SUVs in the suburbs as commuters try to make it home before becoming dinner, a la Doctor Zhivago.

Vension for dinner - mmmmmmm!

[Carrie Cummins]

I have to say that I am outraged by what I have seen on the news and how this could all be ok ....check out my myspace page about the story make a statement
http://www.myspace.com/pactma

[georgehabash]

chicago police; shoot an animal without provocation, and shoot people without provocation. In a story by the Chicago Tribune itself, they confirm that Chicago cops shoot a civilian on average every 10 days. Obviously, the majority of the innocents who have lost their lives or been hostpitilized, and paralyzed by police bullets are black or latino. I hope all of those reprimending the shooting of the animal above would also condemn and demand justice for the hundreds of PEOPLE who have been murdered by the police.

[JACK77]

The only complaint I have with the cougar shooting is that I wasn't the one pulling the trigger. PETA NUTS get real!!! Zoo experts said it would take 15 minutes for a tranquilizer dart to work, if they had the gun there. What are they suppose to do in the meantime????? The police should get a medal.