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Pretty sad story.....

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/8933397.html

wow. Here's the text in case the link doesn't work in the future.

Police Officer Shoots at Snake, Kills Five-Year-Old Boy Save Email Print

Posted: 11:00 AM Aug 6, 2007
Last Updated: 10:04 AM Aug 6, 2007
Reporter: Associated Press

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NOBLE, Oklahoma (AP) -- A police officer shooting at a snake apparently killed a five-year-old boy who was fishing at a nearby pond, officials said.

Austin Haley was fishing with his grandfather, Jack Tracy, when Tracy said he heard a shot and saw something hit the water just a few feet in front of the boat dock where he was standing.

Moments later, a second shot hit Austin in the head.

A Noble police officer who had responded to a report of a snake in a tree apparently fired the deadly shot while trying to kill the snake on Friday, City Manager Bob Wade said.

"I was told that they tried several ways to get the snake down, but it was still hissing at them and firmly lodged," Wade said. "What I was told is that the owner of the home either suggested or agreed that they should go ahead and shoot the snake, and then everything happened from there."

Tracy thought someone must be trying to kill him and his grandson, so he put the child on the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there," he told The Oklahoman. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing."

The boy was pronounced dead at an Oklahoma City hospital, about 25 miles north of Noble.

Wade refused to identify the officer but said the person had been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

"This is so bizarre it has to be fully investigated," he said. "We're pretty sure circumstantially that it is the bullet from the police officer's gun, but it might be a bullet from someone else."

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said a state investigation was under way, though it appeared the fatal shot had been fired by the officer.

Tracy has little doubt. "I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose," he said. "But let me tell you -- if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that."

THE OKLAHOMAN (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) 08 August 07 Snake was no rattler (Jennifer Griswold)
Noble: A police bullet that killed a small boy last week had been aimed at a black rat snake, a Norman animal control officer said Tuesday.
After the shooting on Friday that killed Austin Haley, 5, Norman's animal control department was called to collect and store the dead snake, Noble City Manager Bob Wade said.
Noble doesn't have an animal control officer, he said.
The snake has been frozen and stored for investigators, Norman Police Chief Phil Cotton said.
The incident started when Noble police officers responded to a call from a resident who thought a rattlesnake had slithered up into a birdhouse.
One of the two shots fired by police hit Austin while he was out fishing with his grandfather. His funeral is today.
Noble Police Chief Ben Daves said the city has been without an animal control officer for about a month, so police responded.
The Noble Police Department's Police and Procedures Manual says "firearms may be used to destroy an animal that represents a threat to public safety.”
The manual states "firearms shall not be discharged when it appears likely that an innocent person may be injured.”
The three officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of investigations by Noble and the OSBI.
The names of the officers involved have not been released.
In the meantime, the seven officers remaining on the police force are working overtime to cover the shifts, Daves said.
About black rat snakes
"I can't say they wouldn't bite, but they're not venomous,” said Mark Howery, a state wildlife biologist. Their other traits include:
•Common in Oklahoma.
•Adept at climbing.
•Often confused with bull snakes, water snakes, diamondback rattlesnakes or cottonmouths because of their color pattern. They may mimic rattlesnake behavior.
•Eat birds, small wildlife.
Snake was no rattler