Police shoot gator, find out it's a lawn ornament

[Blue_Tires]

Police responding to an alligator sighting in a suburban Kansas City pond took quick action to dispatch the big reptile.

It wasn't until after the second rifle shot bounced off the beast Sunday that the three Independence officers realized it was a concrete lawn ornament.

Independence police spokesman Tom Gentry says the department received a call from a man who said a gator had been spotted in the woods.

Gentry says the alligator was in the weeds near a tree by a pond and it looked real. An officer shot the gator twice in the head — per instructions from a conservation officer — before realizing it wasn't moving.

Gentry says the landowner told officers he put the fake gator there to keep children off his property.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/02/2920682/police-shoot-gator-find-out-its.html#ixzz1O7RhddNa

[kentauros]

1. "You kids get outta my swamp!"

:P

[raccoon]

2. Thanks for a good laugh. I don't think gators live in Kansas because

it's too conservative for them.

Somebody from FL, correct me if I'm wrong.

[pintobean]

3. looked real enough

You know, when you're a rookie, they can teach you everything about bein' a cop except how to live with a mistake.

[HopeHoops]

4. I HATE when that happens.

[RedCloud]

5. This sounds like a modern day Don Quixote adventure.

"Of course Sancho. Merlin simply switched the real gator with an ornamental one to rob us of our glory."

[IcyPeas]

6. hilarious, I feel sorry for the poor cops