Coyote captured in Arlington park where 3 children were bitten

ARLINGTON, Texas - Police and animal services have captured an aggressive coyote at an Arlington public park. It's believed to be the one responsible for attacking three children in recent days.

FOX 4 cameras were recording when the officers hauled the animal out of a grassy area near Parkway Central Park at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The park was shut down on Tuesday after three children were bitten by a coyote on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.

Search efforts went on into late Wednesday night and resumed early Thursday morning.

The coyote that was captured Thursday morning charged at officers. They shot it with a projectile.

"We saw the coyote. He was on the backside. He went back around. He came out, and then he charged us and that's when we hit him with a less lethal," said Arlington Police Sgt. Eric Belisle. "It's not a gun. It's a less lethal device. It has a foam baton round. And when it struck the coyote, it stunned him, and we were able to get a lasso around him and get him detained."

Sgt. Belisle and five other APD officers were patrolling the area as students headed into nearby Jones Academy of Fine Arts and Dual Language when the encounter happened. The school backs up to park.

Belisle used a "less-lethal" device that fires a 40mm baton round.

"When he was coming at us, that's when I stunned him with it," he said.

Ashley Woolnough with Arlington Animal Services said they believe they got the right coyote, but added that they can't be 100% sure.

"We assume this may be one of the problem coyotes we've been dealing with because it was aggressive," she said. "With the actions that have been described, with the animal actively aggressive towards people, we hope this is the right one. However, we will continue efforts and we aren’t stopping now."

Arlington Animal Services was asked why the park wasn’t shut down sooner following the first or even the second attack. It admits there was a mistake in reporting the second attack. 

"The circumstances that the email shared was similar to the first bite\, so unfortunately, we did assume it was a duplicate report of the first bite," Woolnough said.

Woolnough was asked why animal services officers did not try to make the capture Wednesday when news crews and people in the area saw a coyote roaming the park. 

"We had to make sure we had a clear shot, and, unfortunately, we only had one shot which was missed," she explained.

Woolnough says urban coyotes are common in the area but added that, to her knowledge, the three bites that occurred at the park between Saturday and Tuesday are the first reported coyote bites in the city's history.

Federal wildlife officers arrived Thursday night and will now take over surveying the park.

The park will remain closed as wildlife officers with the USDA continue to investigate the area to see how many coyotes there are, where the problems lie and whether any other problem or nuisance coyotes need to be removed.

"As long as we feel like there's a threat, we're going to keep it locked down," Woolnough said.

Nearby resident Rasheen Sinclaire lives across the street from the popular park. He says he's lived there for five years and sees coyotes often. They've always kept their distance until Wednesday.

"The way it was kind of walking, it was kind of watching, waiting for an opportunity," he said. "Really praying that the families of the kids who were bitten are okay; that's first and foremost."

In the pick-up line Thursday afternoon, Arlington parents had their heads on a swivel.

One mom had a baseball bat in her hand in case a coyote crossed their path home. 

"I saw the video of it following the kids yesterday. We see those kids every day. It could’ve been us," Tracy Esquivel said.

A sign reading "beware of coyote activity" stood outside the Jones Academy of Fine Arts and Dual Language.

"They always have activities in this park because it’s like right there," Karla Flores said.

Flores learned one of her daughter’s classmate was one of the children recovering from a coyote attack. 

This week, kids were kept inside until the school day was over.   

The coyote was humanely euthanized and sent to Texas Health and Human Services in Austin for rabies testing.

The only way to conduct the test is for the animal to be dead. We hope to learn the rabies test results Friday.

If it tests positive for rabies, animal services said all area coyotes would likely be removed. 

Officials believe removing the more aggressive coyote will mean the others will not be as visible.

There are likely more at the park, but there weren’t any more sightings Thursday.

Police plan to continue patrolling the area to make sure there are no further attacks. 

The city will also partner with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Wildlife Services to evaluate and determine the next steps.

Residents are encouraged to report coyote sightings by visiting the city's Action Center webpage and scrolling down to Wildlife Sighting.

Parkway Central Park will remain closed until further notice.