Often the only way to help a badly injured animal is to be put of it out of its misery. But you'd hope the person pulling the trigger would check to see if there are kids around first. Geez.
According to News Corp, Australian police were called to the suburbs of Melbourne on Nov 21. and attempted to put a critically-injured kangaroo down with a rifle.
The officer was filmed -- by local man Hash Tropoja -- shooting the animal just seconds before a small child rode past on his scooter, mere metres from the .22 calibre rifle's target.
In the disturbing footage, a nearby fellow officer is heard telling his colleague "There's a kid coming, sir," right before the rifle-holder fired. The kangaroo was also shot in such a way that it's seen twitching and writhing graphically in a small pool of blood, as the child scoots past. Safe to say he's scarred for life, then.
Tropoja says he filmed the incident because he was concerned that the officer did not take enough safety precautions before firing, telling the news outlet, "they could have blocked off cars and pedestrians from coming through the line of sight while the sergeant was taking the shot because the bullet ... definitely had the potential to ricochet off the concrete into any direction."
A spokesperson for the Victoria Police addressed safety concerns by telling News Corp, "police conducted a risk assessment before the animal was euthanised, and three officers kept a look out for pedestrians and traffic ... All instances where a firearm is discharged by police are reviewed."
