After following a trail of blood outside a mobile home, officers found a Bengal tiger cub in a dog crate, New Mexico police said.
Officers initially responded to southeast Albuquerque on Tuesday, Jan 10 after reports of gunfire, a news release from the Albuquerque Police Department said.
As they were en route police said they learned someone had been shot outside an Allsup’s Convenience Store. Officers found a person who’d been shot in the leg by what police believe was a stray bullet.
“While one scene, an additional gunshot was heard coming from a mobile home just to the north of the Allsup’s,” police said.
Officers made their way toward the gunfire and found a man armed with a semiautomatic handgun, police said. He was taken into custody.
Police said they followed a trail of blood that led inside an unlocked trailer. Upon entering, officers did not find an injured person, but instead found a Bengal tiger cub “inside a dog crate.”
Police obtained a search warrant for the home and rescued the tiger, police said.
“Even though I’m a Ravens fan, I’m glad we saved this Bengal,” police Chief Harold Medina said on Twitter.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish took over care for the cub, police said.
The shooting is under investigation, police said.
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