Tiger Killed On l-75 As Early Atlanta Commute Turns Surreal

HENRY COUNTY, GA — A tiger was shot and killed early Wednesday after Henry County authorities received several calls about the big cat near a ramp on Interstate 75. The animal sightings — a surreal experience for anyone driving into work in metro Atlanta — were reported near the Jodeco Road exit, police told local media. Authorities are now searching for the animal's owner.

Update: Tiger killed near Atlanta was headed to Tennessee

Terrified residents posted on social media about the big cat walking through their yards. (Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Henry police officers called animal control but had to take the predator down as the safety of surrounding households came into question. Henry police Capt. Joey Smith said the incident escalated when the tiger attacked a dog at a home.

“Unfortunately, it jumped a fence and went after a dog back behind one of the residences here,” Smith told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And the officers had to use some force to put the tiger down.”

The officers had to shoot the tiger with county-issued firearms since they were not equipped with tranquilizer guns. The issue of schoolchildren appearing as the morning progressed also was something the officers weighed, WGCL reports.

Brittney Speck told the TV station that it was her dog that the tiger pounced on before police neutralized the situation. She said just one of the tiger's legs equaled the size of her dog.

A Hardee's employee said when she arrived at work about 4 a.m., a man told her that he'd seen a tiger. That's when Suvannee Brownlee said she saw a large police presence approach and an officer told her to hunker down inside the eatery.

“I was shocked,” Brownlee told the newspaper.

Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary in nearby Locust Grove said that all of its tigers were accounted for. The sanctuary released this statement obtained by WGCL:

"Noah's Ark was contacted by Henry County Police with reports of a loose tiger on I-75. We responded immediately and were on the way to the scene with hopes of chemically immobilizing the tiger and bringing it to Noah's Ark. Unfortunately, human life became at risk and the tiger was shot by the authorities. All of our tigers are accounted for. Thank you to the officers for trying their best to bring this animal to safety."

The incident caused no traffic delays, authorities said.

Image via Pixabay