Fearing for their lives, thinking an injured bull was about to come charging at them, Idaho deputies were preparing to shoot it dead.
But then the bull’s owner pulled up, a 62-year-old rancher named Jack Yantis, who was carrying a rifle.
Adams County sheriff’s deputies ended up shooting him dead.
Yantis was also said to have fired his gun, but it’s not clear if he was shooting at the bull, which had been struck by a car, or if he was trying to protect the bull from the deputies.
When Yantis’ wife was informed of the incident, she had a heart attack and is now listed in critical condition.
The bull survived the incident but was grazed by at least a buller after it was caught in the crossfire between two deputies and Yantis, a well-known member of the community.
The incident took place Sunday night after a car carrying two people struck the bull on open range land, requiring rescue workers to extract them from their car, according to ABC 6.
But Adams County Sheriff Ryan Zollman said the bull began to charge at the first responders which was when they decided to kill it.
But that moment was interrupted by Yantis who just pulled up and ended up in an apparent shootout with two deputies.
“Our thoughts are with our community and especially all those involved in this incident,” said Adams County Sheriff Ryan Zollman.
“The Adams County Sheriff’s Office takes matters involving any use of force very seriously and we have requested detectives with the Idaho State Police to conduct the investigation into this incident.”
The deputies, whose names have not been released, were placed on paid administrative leave.
A screenshot from Facebook from one of Yantis’ friends suggests that he had pulled up to the scene to put his bull down.
But evidently, they wanted to be the ones to kill the bull.
