A pet monkey attacked an Oklahoma woman on Sunday before a family member of the victim shot and killed the primate, police said.
According to the Dixon Police Department, the attack, in which the woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries, occurred just after 6 p.m. after police received a report of a monkey on someone’s front porch.
When police arrived at the scene, they called for help from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife. Police said that when the officers got out of the car, the monkey jumped into the back of the vehicle and then ran towards the victim and climbed on him, causing unspecified injuries.
KTEN, the NBC affiliate of Ada, located about 83 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, reported that victim Brittany Parker was the person who originally called police to report the monkey. She told the local station that the monkey “climbed on my back and jumped on my head, pulled out the hair, and then cut my ear in half like you would a piece of paper.”
Police said Parker was taken to Mercy Hospital Ardmore and then to OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City for treatment.
He was released from the hospital early Monday with bruises and stitches in his ear, KTEN reported.
After allegedly attacking Parker, the monkey then fled into a wooded area, and its owners – and police – unsuccessfully attempted to track it down, with police warning the public not to approach the animal. Police said that at some point, a member of Parker’s family shot the monkey and killed it.
KTEN reported that it was Parker’s friend who killed the animal, with Parker claiming that the ape also attacked the man who killed it. “We called him and he came here, and after attacking me, the monkey went to his vehicle, slapped him in the face and pulled his hair,” Parker told the local station.
The monkey’s body is being analyzed for testing at an Oklahoma disease laboratory, according to Dixon police, who said the investigation is ongoing.
KTEN reported that Oklahoma law classifies primates as pets, which makes it legal to keep them without a permit. But state law also makes it a felony punishable by up to $50 or up to 30 days in jail for failing to keep domestic animals adequately confined.
The Dixon Police Department did not immediately respond to questions.
