CU students react to the shooting of the Mapleton elk
CU students have mixed feelings on the recent Mapleton elk shooting that has Boulder residents in an uproar and two Boulder cops on suspension.
Two Boulder police officers were involved the shooting of an elk that was wandering around in a Boulder neighborhood. An on-duty officer, now identified as Sam Carter, saw the elk in the Mapleton Hill neighborhood and allegedly shot and killed it with a shotgun. He then proceeded to call off-duty officer Brent Curnow, so they could load the elk into the back of Curnow’s truck and he could process the meat for his own personal use. The officers involved are now suspended from duty.
An elk stands at Rocky Mountain Park in January. Earlier this month, an off-duty police officer shot and killed an elk in the Mapleton Hill neighborhood in Boulder. (Kai Casey/CU Independent)
When the neighbors asked what all the commotion outside was about, the officers informed them that the elk was limping and injured so they put it down in an act of mercy. After killing the elk and loading it into the back of Curnow’s truck, the officers failed to report the incident to the department superiors.
The death of the elk caused the Boulder community to come together and hold a silent walk. Those who participated in the walk were asked to play an audio file for the elk from their cell phones. CU students had a variety of responses to the death and vigil of the elk who had long wandered near Pearl Street.
“I think the silent walk for the elk was unnecessary, especially in comparison to more recent tragedies that happened like the Newtown shooting. A baby’s life is more valuable than an elk’s, even though it’s sad the elk died.” -Annie Miller, 20-year-old junior integrative physiology major
“I think it’s unreasonable to hold a vigil for the elk, but I think it’s cool that people had something to bring them together.” –Christine Vaughn, 20-year-old junior biochemistry major
“I think it’s ridiculous that the officers decided to kill an elk that wasn’t causing any harm to anybody.” –Josh Johnson, 22-year-old integrative physiology master’s student
“I feel sad for any animal that has to die unnecessarily.” – Abby Cher 20-year-old junior music major
“The incident seemed like a silly thing for people to hold a vigil over even though the death of the elk was unfortunate.” – Madison Munn, 20-year-old junior music major
“It’s sad that the elk died, and the officers involved should have documented the incident but that’s what you should do to an animal that’s in pain.” –Jenny O’Shaughnessy, 20-year-old junior music major
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Bethany Morris at [email protected]
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2 Comments
What? You mean it’s better to protest if, and only if, nobody shoots up kids? Calling people to task is feast or famine: you do it when you must. And, I suspect, the issue for many people isn’t simple and doesn’t lie solely upon the death of an elk! Besides, I don’t think this is a silly issue when it happens in a community that you live in, created by officers your welfare depends upon.
This is not the glass case of emotion that I was led to believe. All the students think the silent walk and vigil were silly, but were sad the elk died. end of story. Much like the officers did the wrong thing, its done with end of story, let the Daily Camera continue to focus on this BS