Cougar caught on camera roaming city streets in Utah

SANDY, UT (KTRK) -- A cougar was caught roaming around an office building in Utah.

"You can see she was just lying there relaxing," Sarah Vigil said. "The more people started to come the more she kind of got a little scared."

Police were called to the scene as the cougar became more uneasy.

"As the cougar jumped up officers feared for imminent danger to the public and fired," said Sgt. Dean Carriger with the Sandy, UT police department.

"I actually didn't think it was right," said Zander Powell. "I mean people were coming to work. He missed he didn't even shoot it."

Police defended opening fire on the cougar, saying they didn't want to take a chance that the animal found another neighborhood where children might be playing. The animal managed to escape without being hit.

Wildlife Resources say it was a fully grown female. It's not back in the wild.

"Just the prettiest cat. It was the first time I've ever seen a cougar outside of a zoo," said Ed Borrell. "Just beautiful, healthy, probably six feet long."

This story comes from our ABC affiliate KTVX in Utah.