Incredible footage coming out of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office captures the moment a Sherriff's Deputy was forced to discharge his service pistol into a Malayan Tiger at the Naples Zoo.

On Wednesday, 29 December, members of the the Collier County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call about a man who was being mauled by a zoo animal inside of the Naples Zoo. Once they arrived at the scene, first responders found 26-year-old River Rosenquist pinned against the enclosure of the Malayan Tiger, Eko. Rosenquist, who was a member of a third-party cleaning agency, was in an off-limits part of the Naples Zoo, and beyond a safety barrier meant for keeping distance between on-lookers and the extremely dangerous Malayan Tiger.

Completely unprepared for dealing with an actual Tiger attack, and clearly seeing an imminent threat to the life of Mr. Rosenquist, the unnamed CCSO deputy made the decision to discharge his service pistol into the tiger in order to save his life. After the tiger retreated, first responders were able to get Rosenquist to a nearby medical facility where he is expected to recover from his injuries. Rosenquist is currently under investigation to determine if criminal charges will be filed against him.

Shortly after this incident, a CSCO drone was used to survey the tiger's enclosure, and it was discovered that Eko was unresponsive. Following this, a zoo veterinarian fired a tranquillizer dart into the tiger and entered the enclosure. After a brief inspection, the zoo veterinarian determined that Eko had expired from its injuries.