He drowned trying to rescue a calf that fell into a pond in Cleburne

A man who was trying to rescue a calf that had fallen into a pond Wednesday in Cleburne drowned, police said.

The drowning happened shortly before 3 p.m. in the 500 block of Edgewood Lane, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.

Coyote Rooster Renner, 29, was working ranchland at the site when he saw a calf go into a stock tank, which is a small pond used for watering livestock, said Cleburn Fire Chief Keith Scarbrough.

"A stock tank tends to be muddier than a typical lake," Scarbrough said. That could have been a factor in Renner's drowning, he said.

Also, "he was still wearing jeans and cowboy boots" when his body was removed from an area of the pond that was 6 to 7 feet deep, Scarbrough said. That could have contributed to fatigue, he said.

The calf survived, Scarbrough said.

Public records show Renner had been living in the Cleburne area since 2013. He lived in Waco before that.

This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 11:52 AM.