Officials Kill Young Mountain Lion Spotted In Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA (CBS) — A juvenile mountain lion was shot and killed by Fish and Game officials Tuesday morning after it was spotted near the Third Street Promenade.

The three-year-old cat was initially spotted by a janitor around 6 a.m. in the courtyard of a commercial building in the 1200 block of Second Street near Arizona, Santa Monica police said.

KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports believe it jumped the fence and then couldn't get out.

"We attempted to keep the animal in that enclosure and we attempted to tranquilize the animal," said Lt. Robert Almada. "However, he attempted to escape the enclosure and regrettably the officer had to euthanize the animal.

Department of Fish and Game officers removed the animal — which they described as weighing between 75 and 90 pounds — to perform a necropsy.

Officials offered no theories as to how the animal made its way down from the Santa Monica mountains nearly 1.5 miles away down to the popular shopping district.