Investigation continues into fatal tiger attack at S.F. zoo
(12-26) 17:27 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Police are treating the San Francisco Zoo as a crime scene today, one day after a 350-pound tiger escaped and attacked three visitors from San Jose, killing a 17-year-old boy before hunting down and seriously injuring two of his friends.
Carlos Sousa Jr. was killed Christmas evening outside the tiger grotto, which is protected by a 25- to 30-foot-wide moat and 14-foot-high wall. Tatiana, a 350-pound Siberian tiger that also attacked a zookeeper almost exactly a year ago, was shot by police as it mauled one of the survivors 300 yards away from the grotto.
Zoo officials are still unsure how the tiger escaped the enclosure. Authorities believe it initially attacked all three victims, killing Sousa. Officials believe the cat then followed blood trails to Terrace Cafe, where it cornered the other boys, brothers ages 19 and 23.
Although some zoo officials speculate the threesome may have teased the tiger, San Francisco police Lt. Leroy Lindo said police currently have no reason to believe the three men taunted the animal prior to the attack, which happened shortly after the zoo's 5 p.m. closing time. Dozens of visitors and some employees were still inside the zoo at the time.
Authorities were called to the scene after receiving a call that said an unspecified animal may be loose in the zoo and that a visitor had been bitten.
When police arrived, they first found Sousa, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The officers began a search and found the 23-year-old victim lying on the ground with cuts on his face. He was cornered by the tiger. As the officers approached, police said, the tiger jumped back on top of the man and resumed its attack. The animal then became distracted by the four officers, who were yelling, and advanced toward the officers. All four fired their .40-caliber handguns, hitting the tiger an unknown number of times.
San Francisco Police Sgt. Neville Gittens said the officers did not want to shoot the animal while it was sitting next to the victim.
"I can only imagine the patrons walking around, and suddenly seeing this tiger," he said. "It was probably surreal."
The officers then found the third victim, the 19-year-old man, near his brother.
The brothers were in stable condition today after surgeries at San Francisco General Hospital.
John Sousa said he learned of his nephew's death this morning.
"This is very rough, very hard on us. There's nothing much we can do. This will be investigated, it's going to take some time," he said. "He was a great kid, he took off on Christmas with friends, we're not sure what happened."
San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo said the zoo has a response team that is armed with tranquilizers and firearms, but that the scene unfolded "so quickly that the officers found (Tatiana) first."
The zoo does not have video surveillance, police said, so the investigation will be based on physical evidence collected at the zoo, witness statements, the autopsy of the dead man and the necropsy of the tiger.
Police officers, along with fire department and zoo personnel, conducted four searches of the zoo grounds between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to ensure no other people had been attacked, Gittens said. Authorities used a California Highway Patrol helicopter with thermal imaging and floodlights to comb the zoo for additional victims or escaped animals when it was still dark, he said.
At one point, police said, zoo officials feared that the four other tigers that belong to the zoo were on the loose. Authorities said one zookeeper wanted to go into the large cat grotto to account for the remaining animals, and police had to physically restrain him.
Rochelle Dicker, an emergency room surgeon at San Francisco General Hospital who operated on the victims, said today that the two unnamed brothers were recovering remarkably well. Doctors are focusing on preventing infection from the bacteria that may be present in the men's wounds, she said. That bacteria is similar to the type found in the common house cat, officials said.
Dicker said the men were in critical condition when they arrived at the hospital Tuesday but that emergency crews had managed to stabilize the victims and clean their wounds. Both men underwent multiple surgeries with several different teams of doctors through the night, she said. The surgeries mostly consisted of cleaning the wounds more thoroughly and stitching the gashes, Dicker said.
Doctors will keep the men at the hospital today to monitor them, she said. Dicker attributed their recovery to the fact that both are young and in good health.
The zoo, which is closed today for the first time in years, was eerily quiet this morning. The cafe where the attack victims were found is shuttered and still. A dozen police officers gathered with zoo officials just west of the cafe earlier this morning, poring over maps and handing out equipment. This afternoon, a handful of visitors continued to filter up to the entrance, unaware of what had happened.
"Oh my gosh! I hadn't heard anything about a tiger," said one visitor, Komer Poodari, of San Jose. "I guess we'll go to Fisherman's Wharf."
Mollinedo said that officials hope to reopen the zoo Thursday, but plan on keeping the outdoor big cat exhibit closed indefinitely. Police are treating the area as a crime scene, collecting physical evidence and taking statements from any witnesses, Police Chief Heather Fong said.
Lora LaMarca, a zoo spokeswoman, said this morning that officials still have no idea how the animal escaped from its grotto. Police refused to rule out the possibility of carelessness or criminal activity, and zoo officials said the tiger did not escape through the grotto's only door.
"We don't know at this point if somebody let the tiger out or it climbed out," Gittens said, adding that if someone did let the animal out it would be considered a crime.
The zoo held a staff meeting this morning, LaMarca said, and authorities there are offering grief counselors to its employees.
"The zoo offers its sincerest sympathies to the people affected," she said.
This is the second time in just over a year that Tatiana attacked a human.
On Dec. 22, 2006, the tiger chewed the flesh off zookeeper Lori Komejan's arm after a public feeding demonstration. A state investigation later ruled that the zoo was at fault for the attack because of the way the cages were configured.
A June report from the state Division of Occupation Safety and Health blamed the San Francisco Zoo for the 2006 attack, stating that the tiger cages were configured in a way that made it possible for Tatiana to bite the zookeeper's arm. The state found that Komejan was attacked after she reached through a drain trough to retrieve an item near the tiger's side of the cage. The tiger reached under the cage bars and grabbed her right arm, but the zookeeper tried to push the tiger away using her other arm, the report found.
Both of her arms were under the cage at that point and her face was pressed against the cage bars, according to the report. Another employee grabbed a long-handled squeegee and hit the tiger in the head until it released the injured zookeeper.
"There was never any consideration for putting her down - the tiger was acting like a normal tiger," Mollinedo said today.
The public feedings at the Lion House resumed in September after about $250,000 in safety upgrades. The city, which helps fund the zoo, is currently facing a lawsuit from Komejan and is assessing today whether it is at all liable for the Christmas Day mauling, officials said.
Mayor Gavin Newsom is in Hawaii for a Christmas vacation; Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, the acting mayor, has not commented publicly.
Mollinedo said today that he has brought in colleagues from other accredited zoos to do a thorough analysis of the big cat exhibits.
"We want to make sure they are safe, and see what kind of modifications should be done to ensure the safety of (people and animals)," he said.
Anyone who witnessed the tiger's escape Tuesday or the attacks is asked to call authorities at (415) 553-1141.
Chronicle staff writers Meredith May, Cecilia Vega and Steve Rubenstein contributed to this report. E-mail the writers at k@@@an@sfchronicle.com, jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com, jkoopman@sfchronicle.com and mlagos@sfchronicle.com.
