Toronto Police Have Fatally Shot A Coyote That Was In A North York School Yard
Police say "the coyote was believed to be the same one that had attacked two people this weekend."
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Toronto Police have shot and killed the coyote suspected of biting two people this weekend after it was spotted in a North York schoolyard.
Toronto Police told Narcity that they received a call to Bayview Avenue and Hollywood Avenue area at 7:51 a.m. on Monday morning regarding the coyote.
"On arrival, it was determined the coyote was believed to be the same one that had attacked two people this weekend. There were concerns the animal would continue to roam, and from a public safety standpoint, a decision was made to put the animal down."
Principal William Waldman of Hollywood Public School told Narcity the school became aware that a coyote was in their schoolyard at 7:45 a.m. this morning.
The school sent out a message to their community "letting them know that the coyote was in the west part of our yard and to please enter using the front doors or the east doors of the school to avoid it."
Waldman says they then called 311 for the City of Toronto to dispense animal control and police. However, Toronto Police arrived first.
The principal said officers arrived at the school at around 8:30 a.m. and monitored the coyote for "about an hour" while waiting for animal control, during which the school was placed in a hold and secure.
"Animal control did come, and then they were waiting for wildlife rescue to see if there was a possibility of capturing and rescuing the animal and I guess relocating it somewhere else," said Waldman. "Unfortunately, that wasn't possible, and the animal had to be taken down."
The coyote was shot at around 10:40 a.m., according to Waldman and precautions were taken to ensure the school children didn't see the incident.
"We made sure that nobody would be looking outside the windows in the event that it did have to get taken down."
Police confirmed no students viewed the shooting, saying, "officers liaised with the school to make sure the incident was not viewed by the children."
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