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Gorilla escapes zoo, roams Boston

A gorilla escaped from a zoo in Boston on Sunday and injured at least one person before being subdued.
/ Source: The Associated Press

A gorilla escaped from Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo on Sunday and injured at least one person before being subdued with tranquilizer darts, police and witnesses said.

A BOSTON police spokeswoman said a “juvenile” was taken to hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. It was not clear how the injuries were inflicted.

Local residents said police officers could be seen fleeing with guns drawn when the gorilla emerged from the zoo and roamed streets in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood.

Police brought in reinforcements equipped with automatic weapons, nets and night-vision goggles. Officers fired four tranquilizer darts at the animal to subdue it.

Local media reported that a second person had been injured, but police could not immediately confirm this.

The Boston Globe reported on Sunday that Little Joe, a 5-foot, 300-pound gorilla, got out of his supposedly escape-proof enclosure at the same zoo on Aug. 13 and wandered around for 10 minutes before returning on his own.

It was not immediately known if it was Little Joe who escaped again on Sunday.

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