The Cincinnati Police Department is investigating an incident from Saturday in which a 4-year ended up in a zoo's gorilla exhibit before security officers killed the animal.
Videos capturing the horrific scene in which the 17-year-old, 450-pound silverback gorilla can be seen handling the boy before it is shot, has gone viral on social media.
"It's too early to say whether it was recklessness on the part of the parent," Lt. Steve Saunders told The Enquirer Tuesday. "We're just doing our due diligence to make sure we know what happened."
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said in a statement that after the police investigation is completed, his office will weigh possible criminal charges.
The boy was taken to a local hospital with a concussion and scrapes and is said to being doing well.
The boy climbed through the barrier around the gorilla enclosure just before 4 p.m. Saturday before he dropped 15 feet into the moat surrounding the exhibit.
Videos show the animal dragging the boy through the moat before disappearing from view, which led zoo officials to take action.
