PINELLAS PARK — Police shot and killed a 200-pound wild boar Sunday evening near Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which was in the midst of its annual fall festival, authorities said.
Just after 5 p.m., Pinellas Park police were alerted that there was a wild boar loose near 49th Street and 70th Avenue. Officers used a Taser on the animal but were unable to subdue it, Pinellas Park police said.
Police called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Tampa Bay, which sent a representative to assist.
"Attempts to cage the animal were unsuccessful," police said in a news release.
The boar took off in the direction of the church. Officers determined the animal was a threat to nearby motorists and citizens and shot the animal around 6:15 p.m. at 4640 78th Avenue N.
At 9 p.m., as crews worked to dismantle booths and rides at the end of the five-day festival, several volunteers and church members said they had not heard about the shooting.
"Pretty much by 6 or 7 (p.m.), we were winding down because we close at 8," said volunteer Janet Jackson Sorrell. "I didn't even hear gunfire."
But volunteer Matt Rumsey, 27, said a friend who lives nearby had told him what happened.
"Somebody told me there was a wild boar and the police shot it eight times," said Rumsey, as he worked to take down a tent.
Rumsey said he didn't hear gunshots, either, probably because of the noise from the festival.
The boar was taken to the SPCA for disposal, police said. No one was injured.
It was the second time in six months that police have been called out to deal with wild pigs in residential areas in Pinellas County.
In April, a 200-pound wild hog attacked a woman and charged a St. Petersburg police officer in a neighborhood on 23rd Avenue N.
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