Authorities shoot cow running loose on Phoenix-area freeway and halting traffic; animal dies

PHOENIX – Arizona authorities say an officer was forced to shoot a cow that got loose on a Phoenix-area freeway, stopping traffic.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves says the agency received multiple calls around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday reporting that a cow was running around the area of U.S. 60 and Interstate 10.

Graves says the cow broke out of a cattle truck that got a flat tire. Troopers say the animal kept heading toward the interstate despite their attempts to deter it.

Graves says that’s when a trooper shot the cow once to prevent it from returning to the freeway. Troopers then led it to a desert area near an exit ramp.

Graves says the cow was later euthanized.