In the small town of Heidelberg, Mississippi, tensions ran high as one of the monkeys that had escaped after a truck accident was fatally shot by a local resident on Sunday morning. The homeowner, Jessica Bond Ferguson, took decisive action after her son alerted her to the presence of the monkey in their yard.

Upon hearing from her 16-year-old son about the monkey sighting, Bond Ferguson quickly grabbed her firearm and phone, stepping outside to investigate. Spotting the monkey approximately 60 feet away, she recalled the warnings given about the diseases the escaped animals could potentially carry.

Faced with this unexpected and potentially dangerous situation, Bond Ferguson, a mother of five children ranging from ages 4 to 16, made a swift decision to protect her family. “I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” she explained to The Associated Press. She described firing her gun at the monkey, which initially stood its ground before eventually backing up and falling.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office later verified via a social media post that a monkey had indeed been found on the homeowner’s property. However, they did not provide further specifics. The monkey was subsequently taken by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, ensuring no further risk to the community.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a social media post that a homeowner had found one of the monkeys on their property Sunday morning but said the office didn’t have any details. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks took possession of the monkey, the sheriff’s office said.

The Rhesus monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the university. In a statement, Tulane University said the monkeys do not belong to the university, and they were not being transported by the university.