There is one thing most people don't know about the incident with Shanda... Mike (the owner the lion I was forced to shoot) was out of town when his Lioness got out and no one I could find knew any way to contact him... And I tried everything I could to find him...
In all reality, because of my past experience with him, I thought Mike was dead in his house with his other cats (2 tigers and 2 lions). He didnt tell anyone he was going out of town. I was on two different scenes where Mike had to be life flighted because of heart attacks... I tried to go to his house and get him and could get no response. I knew that he kept the cats in the house with him at times and wasnt willing to try and make entry knowing there were possibly 4 other large cats inside. I knocked, screamed, banged on windows....I even went to try and find people who knew Mike while another Deputy stood watch with the cat as she laid in the middle of the only Highway in Crystal beach...
I found ONE person who knew Mike and SAID he knew the cat and could get her put up. I took him to the scene and he made his best attempt. The Lioness attacked this guy once and let him go but he assured me he could still get her put up so I let him try again....This went on for almost 2 hours.
She lunged at him again and he was able to get to safety. I told the guy that I could not risk another possible attack on him and if he wanted to still try and get her put up he could but any further threatening moves from her and I would HAVE to shoot her. He assured me he could try again but agreed that the risk was too high to not take action... He was pretty scared too.
The location of Crystal Beach is very remote and even this guy knowing Mike and the cat could think of no other options. If this cat got out into the woods or the high grass that was all around us, she would dissapear and then we would have a real problem on our hands!
The guy tried again to capture the cat and she came at him...Ears flat, lunged to jump in the back of the truck with him, and I had no other option...I had to take the shot! Again, not the proudest moment of my career.
I went to find Mike after he came home from his trip he was on at the time of the incident.
Mike, aside from all of his "activities" still owned that cat from the time it was a cub and it was his pet and his family....Just like my Springer Spaniel and my MONSTER Great Danes. I knew that aside from his "ways" he was suffering the loss of a family member and it was me who made the shot to cause it.
I FELT RESPONSIBLE!!
Mike was always a guy who played the cat and mouse game with the laws and was never really "police friendly." he was known to be involved with a variety of criminal activity, but I didn't want to approach him as a Deputy... I wanted to approach him as a person who has lost a pet/family member.
There was a Vigil for Shanda when Mike got home from his trip. I was torn and really sad about all that happened. I was also not liked too much by many in the community after the shooting, criticized, attacked publicly in the news, etc...
On the night of the Vigil, Mike was sitting outside the front of his house, people/supporters around and was sitting at the head of the grave for Shanda and was sobbing. They made a casket for Shanda and she had just been placed in the grave with her casket covered in flowers. It was the picture on the front page of the Galveston Daily News.
I walked up, through the crowd shortly after that picture was taken, people glaring at me, whispering as I walked by, making comments and I walked up to Mike, tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to look at me. He knew who I was and I knelt down to him tears in my eyes and said....
"Mike, I am sooo sorry I had to do this. I know it must really hurt, but I want you to know I tried everything...It was THE last resort and you have my word on that. I am sorry it happened this way"
Mike looked at me with tears in his eyes and he said...
"I know, I heard from the people there that you did all you could. I also heard how upset you were over the whole deal. I appreciate you coming up here and telling me this."
I shook his hand, nodded to him and walked out of the crowd... People still glaring but parted the way for me like I had the plague.
Mike called me about 3 weeks after the incident with Shanda through dispatch and had me sent to his fishouse to "meet with him" as the call was assigned. I went into the fish house and back to his office, and he was sitting at his desk.
In front of him on this desk was a baby lion cup...Eyes barely opened... Just a few days old..
I was shocked as well as overwhelmed as he told me...
"I got her today and thought you would like to meet her. Her name is Shakle and its a mix between Shanda, Shelly and Michael" (as I recall it)
Then he said...
"You wanna hold her, I want you to be one of the first?!"
"Are you kidding...yes, thank you!"
and then handed her to me....
She let out a little cry like a big kitten with a horse in her throat as I picked her up and then just wanted to get as close to me as she could... She was clawing to get close to me and try and get in my shirt... He little claws were like needles and went right through my uniform into my skin. She was AMAZING.
Lions dont purr I found out this day, but they like to snuggle as cubs as much as they can, and thats what Shackle was tyring to do.
I was AMAZED I was holding a baby lioness and was overwhelmed that through all our "professional" differences, he thought enough of me that I would appreciate the cub... I did... She was great! What a great experience THAT moment was!
I was the guy who was the cause of his last family member passing, and I was one of the first to be there when he got a new one. That was a shocker!!
As I held her, she tried to nurse on my finger and that is why I am flinching in the other picture. She was biting it and it HURT!!
I hung out for about 30 minutes hearing about how he got her and where she came from...
Although I do not agree with owning large predators (the risks are too much for me, thats for sure), the people that do, man, its a HUGE responsibility and they usually LOVE the animals and make them like a pack and part of their family... Its truly a "different kind of animal" owning a lion or other big animal like that.
I never got "friendly" with mike, and was still hoping I would catch him slip one day, But it was like the jail...Mutual respect goes a long way.
I was able, because I lived AND worked there, to watch Shackle grow up until she was two. She was a beautiful animal and had a pretty good disposition... However, I did see her "snap" on time inside her cage, and that pretty little kitty...Well, they get SCARY FAST!!
I posted the pictures I took the night I had to shoot Shanda and decided I was doing no respect to her by posting those and took them down. It was not the proudest moment (probably the most crazy/unbelievable/shocking though!) of my career, but was definitely something that signified it and still has an impact with me. I was 27 years old then and NEVER in my wildest dreams did I think I would have been faced with what I was faced with that night. That old cat was just really doing her job that night like a good watch dog. I had an Oath that I was to protect and serve and that night, I took action to protect and stop her from hurting a citizen...Sometimes, that sucks!
I am glad Shakle survived the storm and it gave me a warm feeling to see the pics of her in that church after IKE. But again, if I would have been one of the people in that storm, I would have taken my chances outside... I have MUCH respect for those animals!!
Anyway, here are some of the pics of her during her stay in the church on Bolivar after IKE hit....Maybe many of you saw it in the spread out places you live. You can google "African lioness in Crystal beach" and see others of her.
9-16-2008, 12 years after the shooting took place, during IKES devastation of the Gulf Coast, someone decided to turn their energy my way... I got this anonymous e-mail from someone...
I am sure that since you were the ******* with a badge that shot Mike's lion the first time, you probably couldn't hardly stand the fact that he and Shackles survived the storm.
Funny how long people can carry hate around with them... And they have NO IDEA what took place... Shooting Shanda was the LAST thing I wanted to do.
Funny how long people can carry hate around with them... And they have NO IDEA what took place... Shooting Shanda was the LAST thing I wanted to do.
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