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No charges against mom of boy in gorilla exhibit

Published 10:09 am Monday, June 6, 2016

By Associated Press

This June 20, 2015, photo shows Harambe, a western lowland gorilla, who was fatally shot May 28 to protect a 3-year-old boy who had entered its exhibit.

This June 20, 2015, photo shows Harambe, a western lowland gorilla, who was fatally shot May 28 to protect a 3-year-old boy who had entered its exhibit.

CINCINNATI — An Ohio prosecutor says he isn’t seeking charges against the mother of a 3-year-old boy who got into the Cincinnati Zoo’s gorilla exhibit, resulting in the shooting of an endangered gorilla to protect him.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters (DEE’-turs) announced the decision Monday. He says the child’s mother had three other children with her, and she was attending to them when the 3-year-old “just scampered off.”

The Cincinnati police had investigated the family’s actions in the incident May 28.

The zoo plans to reopen its Gorilla World on Tuesday with a higher, reinforced barrier. The boy apparently climbed over the outer barrier before falling some 15 feet into a shallow moat. A special response team shot and killed the 17-year-old western lowland gorilla named Harambe to protect the boy.

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