W.Pa. officer shoots coyote headed for colleague

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania police officer says he was saved from a coyote attack when a fellow officer shot the animal as it was about to attack.

Aliquippa Sgt. Douglas Edgell says he stopped a speeder just before 10 p.m. Friday and was standing outside his cruiser with the motorist when the animal started running toward him on Route 51.

Two other officers pulled up in separate cars when one of them, Officer John Lane, aimed out his window and shot the animal before it could reach Edgell.

The animal ran away and the officers could not find it afterward.

A coyote had been reported in the area earlier that day. Officials aren’t sure if it is the same animal.