COSTA MESA, Calif. — Authorities in Costa Mesa, California, are searching for a gunman accused of fatally shooting at least four ducks in a popular park since Easter Sunday.
“Unfortunately, we saw both pellets, which are spherical, and also actual bullets,” Dr. Elizabeth Wood, medical director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, told KTLA.
“It’s horrendous. Nothing upsets us more. These are animals that have been loved by the local community in the local park,” she added.
According to KNBC, the ducks were found dead Monday by a frequent visitor to TeWinkle Park, who had last seen them at around 7 p.m. Easter Sunday.
The slain birds included one male mallard; two Muscovy ducks, known as Mr. Chipper and Grace; and one Pekin duck, dubbed Darryl, the TV station reported.
KTLA identified the park visitor who discovered the dead ducks as Michelle Berger.
“There’s people that are sick. They’re just monsters, and this is not the first time that this has happened here, but it’s very disconcerting, and it’s scary to the public to know that someone has come here with a gun,” Berger told the TV station.
Debbie McGuire with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center is assisting police with their examination of the ammunition found inside the ducks, KNBC reported.
“My initial reaction was to wonder how hollow and cruel the mind of the person is who murdered these innocent animals,” she said in a prepared statement.
“What treacherous thoughts and feelings motivated them? A shudder of fear and sadness ran down my spine,” she added.