Police marksman shot dead escaped cow in school grounds

A cow has been shot dead by police marksmen after it escaped from a field and charged towards a primary school full of children. The Belgian blue female was killed after police chased the animal for two hours across Grantham, Lincolnshire. Police said the cow had become aggressive, charging at several members of the public and a police officer, before jumping the fence into the car park of Belton Lane Community Primary School.



A first shot fired from the top of a large white van parked near to the children’s school missed. The van was driven around the corner to get firearms officers closer and the second shot fired killed the cow. Police said children and staff were evacuated and moved to a safer area in the school while the operation was taking place. One mother said: "The cow had been on the loose for more than two hours and had charged at several members of the public, including me. Thank god I didn't have my kids with me at the time, I dread to think what could have happened."

Helen Green, a local resident who saw the chase, said: “We saw three police cars chasing it down the road, which must have scared it away and it just got lost. [Police] must have thought ‘oh, it’s an animal in a place where it shouldn`t be so of course we`ll kill it.” One local farmer said: "You don't shoot a cow. It's a living animal. Just because you can't catch it doesn't mean you have to shoot it, should have given me a call and I bet I could have caught it."



Superintendent Phil Vickers said: “It is regrettable and sad that the incident ended with the escaped cow being dispatched by an armed police officer with a rifle. We tried everything we could to capture the animal but it became increasingly distressed, aggressive and unpredictable. The cow was shot in the grounds of Belton Lane Community Primary School when the pupils and most of the staff had left the area. The safety of the public was paramount in our thinking throughout the event.”