It’s a story that has continued to make headlines ever since the first reports of the incident last Saturday.
Harambe, a 17-year-old, 400-pound gorilla, was shot dead after a four-year-old boy fell into its enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo.
https://twitter.com/XLNB/status/736936236892323840
Luckily the boy – named Isaiah – didn’t suffer any serious injuries, but the death of the gorilla sparked a massive debate around the world about whether the extreme measures were necessary. A longer video of the incident was taken as some to prove that the gorilla was trying to protect the child rather than harm him, but this has been rejected by experts.
The boy’s parents, Michelle Gregg and Deonne Dickerson, have come in for a lot of criticism:
It seems that some gorillas make better parents than some people.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) May 29, 2016
Now, the mum Michelle’s 911 call from the scene of the accident last weekend has been released, and the CBS Evening News has picked it up.
She’s heard telling the 911 operator: “Hi, my son fell in the zoo exhibit at the gorillas. There’s a male gorilla standing over him. I need someone to contact the zoo please.”
The responder then tells the mum that help is already on the way, as Gregg calls out to her son to stand still and remain calm.
However, it’s then that Harambe starts to drag the child through the enclosure’s water, as the terrified mum says: “He’s dragging my son. I can’t watch this.”
Other distressed witnesses at the scene also put calls through to emergency services.
The BBC is reporting today that the parents will be a focus of a wider police investigation into the incident, but “only regarding the actions of the parents/family that led up to the incident and not related to the operation or safety of the Cincinnati Zoo.”
CBS also reported that the family has received extra police protection because of the ongoing backlash over the accident.
