According to the report, it ultimately took three tranquilizer darts and eight gunshots to put down the lion, named Matthai.
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The report details the timeline of events as follows:
- Deputies arrived at the scene after receiving a call about an animal attack
- They made contact with the CEO of the center, Douglas Evans
- He said that a tranquilizer gun was on the way to put the lion down
- The fire department said they had hoses set up to spray the lion if he got too close to the victim, whose body had not been retrieved
- The tranquilizer gun arrived, however, while Evans was preparing the dart with medication, the dart broke and they couldn't get the broken part back out of the gun
- Evans then left to get another gun
- Evans came back, this time with a blow dart. He told deputies that he retrieved it from his home, where he keeps the darts and medication
- Evans blew two darts, which hit the lion but appeared to have no effect
- While he was preparing a third dart, the lion jumped from one platform, down to the ground and then to the top of another structure
- Evans hit the lion with a third dart. The lion jumped off the structure and then went inside the structure and laid down. After a few minutes, the lion still showed no signs of sleepiness
- A firefighter then tried to use a hose to get the lion out of the structure and into the safety enclosure but the attempt failed and the lion started moving toward the victim once again
- The lion passed by a sergeant at the scene and the sergeant shot the lion, using a 12 gauge shotgun, near the front right shoulder
- The lion did not go down but instead ran back into the wooden structure
- The sergeant fired a second time, hitting the lion in the same area. The lion did not go down. Another lieutenant put a third shot in the same area. After a few minutes, the lion still would not go down
- The sergeant fired a fourth shot into the lion's right side. The lion moved inside the structure but still did not go down
- The lion then came outside the structure and ran toward the fence where the deputies were standing. The sergeant put a fifth and sixth shot into the lion but the lion continued to run.
- One of the deputies then shot the lion in the base of the neck, and he finally went down. A few minutes later, the lion stopped breathing.
- Evans told the sergeant that he would need to shoot the lion in the heart to make sure he was dead
- The sergeant then shot the lion in the heart.
- Evans went into the enclosure and confirmed that the lion was dead
- EMS went into the enclosure and confirmed that 22-year-old Alexandra Black had died from her injuries.
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