Cows escape slaughterhouse in Pico Rivera; 1 shot by deputies working to round them up

A herd of cattle that escaped a local slaughterhouse was corralled in a Pico Rivera cul-de-sac Tuesday night, but officials said one of the cows was shot by deputies as they worked to round up the livestock.

Authorities were called shortly after 7:30 p.m. about several cows in the road on Beverly Boulevard and responded to the area, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Footage from Sky5 showed at least 20 cows huddled together at the far end of a cul-de-sac on the 8700 block of Friendship Avenue, about half a mile north of Beverly Boulevard. Several law enforcement vehicles were blocking them in.

One cow sat alone in the middle of the road some distance from the others, near a pool of blood.

Deputies had opened fire on one cow, but there was no immediate information as to why, said Deputy Tracy Koerner, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department.

Firefighters were on scene to tend to the cow. An empty stroller also stood nearby with discarded items on the ground.

Fire officials responded to the scene around 8:30 p.m. and transported one patient to a trauma center 20 minutes later, said Martin Rangel, a dispatcher for the L.A. County Fire Department. However, Rangel could not provide further details on the person or how they became injured.

As the cows were being loaded into trailers around 9:45 p.m., three cows escaped the cul-de-sac and led deputies on a pursuit across town. They could be seen running alongside vehicles in the area of Beverly and Rosemead boulevards.

Earlier in the evening, Daisy Laureano shared video to Facebook of a large group of cows running on Durfee Avenue between Beverly Road and Beverly Boulevard.

Deputies asked the public to avoid the area of Beverly Road and Durfee Avenue.

The neighborhood is not far from the Charlie DiMaria & Sons slaughterhouse at 9531 Beverly Road.

Check back for updates on this developing story.