A Mississippi mother fatally shot a monkey to protect her children after the “aggressive” animals escaped from an overturned truck, according to multiple reports.
Police said a truck transporting 21 rhesus monkeys from Tulane University’s National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans overturned on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg, Mississippi — approximately 85 miles southeast of the state capital of Jackson.
‘I hate that it happened, but I’m going to protect my kids at all costs.’
On Oct. 28, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, “A truck hauling monkeys from Tulane University has overturned around the 117-mile marker, north of Heidelberg. It has been reported that several monkeys are on the loose.”
Police stressed, “Do not approach the monkeys if you see one. Call 911. They do pose potential health threats and are aggressive.”
Officials from Tulane noted that the university wasn’t transporting the monkeys, and the animals do not belong to the university, according to NBC News.
Tulane told WTVT-TV, “Non-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery.”
The sheriff’s office initially warned residents that the animals “carry hepatitis C, herpes, and COVID” based on preliminary reports by the truck’s occupants.
However, the biomedical research company PreLabs — which owns and was transporting the animals — told WDAM-TV, “The animals being transported were not infected with COVID-19, hepatitis, and herpes as indicated in certain news articles.”
PreLabs added, “The animals were being lawfully transported in compliance with all federal and state regulations to a licensed research facility.”
At the time of the car accident, 13 rhesus monkeys were quickly recovered at the crash site, according to another report from WDAM-TV. Meanwhile, another five monkeys were killed near the crash site — but three escaped, according to Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson.
Jessica Bond Ferguson — a 35-year-old mother with five children who range in age from 4 to 16 — was alerted by her 16-year-old son about a monkey running around the property of their home near Heidelberg.
Ferguson said she got out of bed, grabbed her gun and her cell phone, then went outside to locate the monkey, which was roughly 60 feet away.
Ferguson told the Associated Press, “I did what any other mother would do to protect her children.”
The mom recalled, “I shot at it, and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up — and that’s when he fell.”
“If it attacked somebody’s kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me,” Ferguson declared. “It’s kind of scary and dangerous that they are running around, and people have kids playing in their yards.”
She also blasted those responsible for the monkeys’ escape, telling TMZ that “I wish it didn’t have to happen that way. I just wish they took better measures in taking care of it and trying to find them.”
Ferguson continued, “I feel like if they wanted us to do something else, then they should’ve had a search team out. They could’ve had drones flying around. They could’ve taken more measures to look for these monkeys and prevented this from happening.”
She stressed, “I hate that it happened, but I’m going to protect my kids at all costs.”
In addition, a small-town pastor neutralized one of the other escaped monkeys.
On Monday, Pastor George Barnett was in his car traveling with his two young children and his wife to visit his mother at her home in Vossburg when his wife allegedly spotted a monkey near the highway.
NBC News reported the monkey “scampered into a tree and flashed its teeth.”
With that, Barnett, 45, grabbed his rifle and fired twice, the news network reported, and the monkey fell to the ground.
Barnett told NBC News, “As soon as I saw it, the only thing I thought about was, ‘What if this thing attacks one of those people that I grew up with, or my children?'”
On Thursday, the last escaped monkey was captured.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks told the Associated Press that a resident who lives near the crash site told authorities about the monkey’s location, and authorities “successfully recovered” the animal.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.
PreLabs and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.
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