Another monkey has been killed in Mississippi a week after the animals escaped from a truck that crashed along a rural stretch of highway.
Authorities said the most recent shooting occurred Monday evening, roughly a mile from where the Oct. 28 crash took place in Jasper County.
Sheriff Randy Johnson reported that a civilian had shot the monkey after spotting it crossing the road.
The animal was later recovered by a representative from the transport company.
The man who opened fire was identified as Pastor George Barnett, 45, who was traveling with his wife, Kerri, and their two young sons on their way to visit his mother in Vossburg.
Barnett said his wife first noticed the animal near the highway shortly after 4 p.m. Monday.
“Babe, there’s one of those monkeys,” Kerri told him, recalling the moment she pointed out the creature. At first, Barnett thought she was joking. But as they slowed down, he saw it himself.
“This monkey was just walking across the street,” Barnett said. “Almost like he owned the neighborhood.”
He immediately contacted 911 to report the sighting. “We just saw one of the monkeys right off Exit 118,” Barnett told the dispatcher, according to a recording obtained by NBC News. “It’s sitting on the side of the road right off the exit.”
Barnett’s young sons were frightened by the animal, who they had been warned was still on the loose.
“As soon as I saw it, the only thing I thought about was, ‘What if this thing attacks one of those people that I grew up with, or my children?’” Barnett told the outlet.
After dropping his children off safely at his mother’s home, Barnett retrieved a rifle and returned to the wooded area where he last saw the monkey.
He said the animal had climbed into a tree, and after he fired two shots, it fell and fled. Barnett did not pursue it further.
Moments later, two men in a white truck that he believed to be associated with the transport company arrived to assist.
Following a trail of blood, they used a drone equipped with heat sensors to locate the animal.
Kerri said it was already dark when a worker returned carrying the deceased primate.
Lock Them Up! Russiagate is reigniting…
Obama, Clinton, Comey, and Brennan are all on the hook!
CLICK HERE to demand Russiagate conspirators got to prison!
The incident followed another deadly encounter the weekend prior, when a woman near Heidelberg said she shot one of the escaped monkeys out of concern for her children’s safety.
Jessica Bond Ferguson, the woman involved, said residents had been warned that the missing monkeys might be infected with diseases.
Ferguson said she was asleep when her 16-year-old son spotted a monkey outside their home. She quickly armed herself and went outside.
“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Ferguson told the Associated Press.
“I shot at it, and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up — and that’s when he fell,” she said.
“If it attacked somebody’s kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me,” Ferguson said.
“It’s kind of scary and dangerous that they are running around, and people have kids playing in their yards.”
She later told TMZ she blamed those responsible for transporting the animals, saying the situation could have been handled better.
“I wish it didn’t have to happen that way. I just wish they took better measures in taking care of it and trying to find them,” Ferguson said.
“I feel like if they wanted us to do something else, then they should’ve had a search team out. They could’ve had drones flying around.”
“They could’ve taken more measures to look for these monkeys and prevented this from happening,” she added. “I hate that it happened, but I’m going to protect my kids at all costs.”
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks announced Tuesday that one of the three missing monkeys was still unaccounted for, while two had been “recovered deceased.”
By Thursday, officials confirmed the final monkey had been located after a resident reported a sighting near the original crash site.
Authorities cautioned residents not to approach the Rhesus monkeys, warning that they can be aggressive.
The ordeal began when a truck transporting 21 monkeys overturned on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg. Several of the primates managed to escape.
Video captured from the scene showed cages and wooden crates strewn along the roadside, with search crews wearing protective suits combing through the surrounding woods and tall grass.
Five monkeys were killed during the rescue efforts, while three initially went missing.
Officials said the monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, a facility known for supplying animals for scientific study.
Tulane clarified that it was not responsible for the transport and that the monkeys were not owned by the university.
Andrew Yawn, a spokesperson for Tulane, confirmed in a statement that “the primates in question were not carrying any diseases and had received recent checkups confirming that they were pathogen-free.”
The remaining 13 animals were safely delivered to their intended destination shortly after the crash.
PreLabs, the company overseeing the transport, issued a statement confirming that the vehicle involved was carrying its non-human primates to a licensed research facility.
According to PreLabs, the monkeys were healthy and free of disease. “We are cooperating with authorities and reviewing all safety procedures to ensure the continued well-being of both the animals and the community,” the company said.
Sheriff Johnson said Tulane officials had verified that the primates were not infectious, despite earlier reports that suggested the animals might pose a danger.
Johnson added that the monkeys still needed to be “neutralized” due to their unpredictable behavior.
