A deer that was spotted wandering onto the tracks between two metro stations in D.C. was shot and killed by Metro Transit Police on Sunday, the Washington Post reported.
The animal was moving between the Takoma and Fort Totten Metro stations.
The deer instantly died after being “put down in a manner that immediately ends needless suffering,” according to Metro spokesman Ron Holzer, who said only one shot was fired with a MTPD-issued firearm.
Holzer told the Washington Post that the emergency response personnel and transit police of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) “humanely dispatched” the animal.
A commuter at the Fort Totten station told the daily that he heard a loud bang, before seeing the deer move a little bit around a few dozen feet from the platform.
We humans agonize over the death penalty, abortion, turning off life support for the brain-dead; yet if an animal becomes even slightly inconvenient, we kill it without a second thought.
— Mr. T in DC (@MrTinDC) November 10, 2019
The incident reportedly caused around a 10-minute delay on the Red Line. After the remains of the animal were removed, the trains continued to operate.
The deer apparently was already suffering from a previous injury, the Post reported, attributing the information to transit agency officials.
