Police were forced to shoot a man’s pet snake in the head after it wrapped itself around the man’s neck.
Police were called to the residence at 1400 block of Church Street in Fogelsville, southeastern Pennsylvania due to the reptile violently attacking its owner.
A news release revealed that at the scene a 28-year-old man was found unresponsive laying on the floor with the large snake wrapped around his neck.
Officers first attempted to cut the snake off the man’s neck, which did not prove helpful. Running out of time to save the man’s life, an officer was forced to shoot the animal in the head.
Luckily the injury to the snake allowed officers to pull the man to safety and provide emergency medical attention.
Here’s what Lt. Peter Nickischer said of the Upper Macungie Township Police Department:
“Because the snake was so large, the midsection of the snake was wrapped around the throat. The head of the snake was just far enough away from the victim that the officer made a split-second decision and he proceeded to shoot the snake in the head.”
“It wasn’t like it just died. It started to slither away, luckily away from the officers, away from the direction that they were trying to pull this gentleman.” Lt. Nickischer said. “They realized it was a matter of life and death with seconds to make that decision. Praise the officers. They did what they had to do. It was a safe shoot.”
The Pennsylvania man was hospitalized after the incident.
Washington Post reported:
Police did not identify the species of the snake. The pet reptile died after it released its grip on the man’s neck and slithered away.
According to neighbors, the man was seen several times holding snakes in his front yard, WPVI-TV reported. The neighbors said that the man also had other snakes at home.
Nickischer praised his colleagues in a Thursday interview with The Post. “They went in, they saw an opportunity to save a man, and they showed a lot of bravery as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Sources: WesternJournal, KYW-TV, WPVI-TV, Washington Post
