Rabid Bobcat Attacks 3 People In Arizona Town, Terrorizes Local Watering Hole

David Goodhue - AHN Reporter

Cottonwood, AZ (AHN) -- A rabid bobcat terrorized the small town of Cottonwood, Ariz. Thursday night before being shot in a bar parking lot by police - but not before the cat attacked two people and sent the rest fleeing and jumping on pool tables, the Arizona Republic reported.

Three people in total were attacked by the animal and will now have to receive a series of rabies-vaccine shots.

The first victim was a woman who hit the bobcat with her car. When she got out to look what she hit, a man standing on the side of the road told her not to get too close to the bobcat. But it was too late. The animal leapt on her, scratched her and ran off.

The animal then went to a Pizza Hut parking lot, where it scared a worker, but did not attack anyone. The beast then appeared at Chapparral, a local bar.

Bartender Scott Hughes told the Republic that three of his patrons said goodnight and walked outside at about 11:40 p.m. But as soon as they walked out of the entrance, they ran back in, trailed by the bobcat. One of the customers jumped on a pool table and the others jumped onto the bar, he told the newspaper.

A crowd of about 20 people ran toward the exit, but so did the bobcat. It wrapped itself around the leg of one man, who punched it in the face, knocking it out for a few seconds. The animal then walked outside and toward a police officer, who shot and killed it.