Coyote Captured After 3 Children Attacked at Texas Park Does Not Have Rabies: Officials

Anna Lazarus Caplan
·2 min read
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Parkway Central Park in Arlington will remain closed until Tuesday, the city of Arlington said

<p>Getty</p>

Getty

  • A coyote was caught in a North Texas park on Thursday, Arlington city officials said

  • The animal may be linked to a series of attacks on three children over three separate days in the last week

  • The coyote tested negative for rabies, the city told PEOPLE on Friday

A coyote that may have been responsible for attacking three children and was captured at a North Texas park on Thursday has tested negative for rabies, authorities said Friday afternoon.

In a news release obtained by PEOPLE, the city of Arlington said two more coyotes were observed in an area "surrounding" Parkway Central Park early Friday morning.

"Following these reports, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Wildlife Services surveyed the park overnight," the news release stated. "USDA staff did not observe any coyotes within the park space, but they did observe two coyotes in the surrounding area. The coyotes did not display any concerning behavior at that time, and the USDA staff does not consider them a threat to the public at this time."

"Out of an abundance of caution, Parkway Central Park, 600 Van Buren Drive, will remain closed to the public until Tuesday, Feb. 20," officials added.

Related: Rhode Island Hiker Kills Rabid Coyote with Bare Hands After Being Bitten on the Leg During Attack

Officers with the Arlington Police Department and Arlington Animal Services caught the coyote inside the park at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday after deploying a non-lethal baton round, CBS affiliate KTVT and Fox affiliate KDFW reported.

"We saw the coyote on the back side. He went back around and then he came out," Sgt. Eric Belisle, with the Arlington Police Department, told KTVT. "Then he charged us and that's when I hit him with the less lethal."

The officer, who has encountered "hundreds of coyotes" on the job, went on to call this "very unusual behavior."

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Authorities said they are not sure whether the coyote was the one who attacked the children on three separate occasions, beginning last Saturday.

After the initial attack, two more children were bitten on Tuesday and Wednesday at the park, which is adjacent to Jones Academy, a fine arts and dual-language school in the Arlington Independent School District.

Related: 5 Injured, Including 2 Children, After Car Crashes Into Emergency Room Lobby

The coyote captured on Thursday was euthanized and then transported to Texas Health and Human Services in Austin where it underwent rabies testing.

In the three separate coyote encounters, each child was treated for injuries and then released from the hospital, The Dallas Morning News reported.

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