Bull put down after rampage in Alvarado

A bull ran amok, forcing police to shut down Interstate 35W, and trampled at least two people before police put it down Wednesday.

The bull was first reported loose at the intersection of U.S. 67 and I-35W, according to a news release from the Alvarado police, which can be found on the department’s Facebook page. By the time police arrived, they found it “charging at people/objects and running along the frontage road of I-35W,” according to the release.

Jared Murray, who was injured by the bull, said he encountered the animal around 12:20 p.m.

“I didn’t know if it was going to rush me or just look at me,” he said.

Murray said the bull chased him and then when he tripped and fell, it stepped on his ankle. He said he was in the hospital for two hours for treatment.

His J and M Auto Repair camera captured video surveillance footage of the bull.

Police said that officers deemed the bull a threat to public safety after it trampled Murray and others, and decided to put it down.

“The decision to end a life, human or animal, is always a difficult decision and a last resort which does not come lightly,” the police release says. “The vast majority of loose livestock calls go very different than this one, and we had hoped this outcome had not been necessary.”

Officers shot the bull when it stopped in the median of I-35W.

Police did not report how the bull escaped, but Fox 4 News reported it had gotten away from a veterinary clinic.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Bull put down after rampage in Alvarado."