(WSVN) - Police in Texas arrested a 17-year-old man for allegedly shooting an American bald eagle.
Fox 26 reports that the Harris County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a man who saw three men standing at the base of a tree with a known eagle nest. The witness told emergency dispatchers he heard a loud pop and saw one of the men holding a rifle. When he went to check on the nest, the witness found the eagle dead.
As the witness waited for deputies to arrive, he spotted the men returning to the nest. One man pulled a feather from the eagle before the all drove off in a white truck.
A deputy tracked the truck to 17-year-old Orlando David Delgado’s home. Delgado told the deputy he used a pellet gun to shoot the eagle, and ended up shooting it multiple times when the first shot didn’t kill the bird.
Texas Parks and Wildlife officials charged Delgado with hunting without a landowner’s consent.
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