A detailed report has been released revealing what happened moments after a lion attacked and killed a 22-year-old worker at the Conservators Center.
The report, released by the Caswell County Sheriff's Office Wednesday, details the timeline of events from a responding deputy's perspective.
In the report, a Sgt. Griggs writes he arrived they were dispatched to the Conservators Center after the attack happened. When they arrived on scene they went to the enclosure. He says several Center staff members were working to get the lion into a separate enclosure away from the victim.
Sgt. Griggs says he asked who was in charge and was referred to a Douglas Evans with the center. He said Evans told him a tranquilizer gun was on the way to try and subdue the lion. At that point, the victim was not moving and it wasn't clear what her status was.
After the tranquilizer gun arrived, Evans started to load it with a tranquilizer dart into the gun. The dart broke off and couldn't be removed. At that point Evans said he was going to his house to get another tranquilizer gun and medication to put the lion to sleep. He came back to the enclosure with a blow gun and loaded it with a dart. According to the report, Evans fired two tranquilizer darts at the lion but they did not put the lion to sleep.
If a third dart did not work, the deputies on scene were advised to use "lethal force to neutralize the situation."
After the third dart failed to put the lion to sleep, fire officials tried one more time to lure the lion into a different enclosure using fire hoses.
When that did not work, deputies started shooting at the lion. It ultimately took 8 shots to take the lion down, the final shot hitting the lion in the heart.
The 22-year-old intern who died in the attack was identified as Alexandra Black. Her family released this statement Sunday:
"Alex loved animals. Our beautiful, intelligent, passionate Alex had worked, unpaid, at several animal-related ventures, most recently at Wolf Park in Battleground, Indiana. This was her fourth internship, because she really wanted to make a career of working with animals. She was looking forward to this first out-of-state internship at the Conservators Center in North Carolina starting 10 days ago. She was a beautiful young woman who had just started her career, there was a terrible accident, and we are mourning. But she died following her passion. We ask that you consider donating to Wolf Park in Battleground, Indiana, to honor Alex."
The executive director of the Conservators Center, Mindy Stinner, says she's been in contact with Black's family.
"I can't imagine the lost they are feeling. We only knew this person a short time and obviously it was devasting for us. So, I'm just so grateful that they have spoken with us to try and get some closure and to make sure we all understand what's happening. This person's passion was the zoological industry and this person wanted to spend a lifetime around these animals. and I believe the family was very supportive of that," Stinner said.
The Conservators Center is still closed as of Wednesday amid the investigation.
The Conservators Center said their personnel 'complied with their directives' in a statement:
Alex Black was a wonderful person. The Conservators Center continues to mourn Alex’s passing and sends its deepest condolences to family and friends.
Our top priority has been and remains the safety of our staff, visitors, community, and animals. The Center is fully cooperating with all ongoing agency reviews of this incident. We are not at liberty to provide specific details about the incident, but we can confirm that the Center’s personnel took direction from the on-site first responders, complied with their directives and provided all requested assistance.
We are grateful for the outpouring of support from the community in response to this tragedy.
The Caswell County Sheriff's Office says they've never responded to a call like this at the Conservators Center in the 20 years it's been there.
"We are trained to primarily interact with humans, but were also trained to work in collaboration with other agencies, to work as a team," explains Lt. Darrell McLean. "Animal Control has jurisdiction over the exotic animals that are here in Caswell County and our role as a Sheriff’s Office is to basically assist them and to gather information."
The USDA is the agency that regulates the Conservators Center. In two recent inspection reports, an inspector found "No non-complaint items were identified during this inspection."
We tried to reach out to the USDA about the inspection process and what role they might play in the investigation, but we haven't heard back yet. The agency is impacted by the government shut down.
Black's family, along with the Conservators Center, ask that donations be made in Alex’s name to Wolf Park.
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