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Harambe

Parents of boy who fell into Cincinnati gorilla enclosure will not face charges

The incident led to the shooting dead of the gorilla, Harambe, and a worldwide controversy in the ensuing days.

gorilla CNN CNN

A PROSECUTOR IN the US state of Ohio says he is not seeking charges against the mother of a three-year-old boy who got into the Cincinnati Zoo’s gorilla exhibit, resulting in the shooting of an endangered gorilla to protect him.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced the decision this evening.

He says the child’s mother had three other children with her, and she was attending to them when the three-year-old “just scampered off.”

The Cincinnati police had investigated the family’s actions in the incident, which took place on 28 May.

CNN / YouTube

The zoo plans to reopen its Gorilla World tomorrow with a higher, reinforced barrier.

The boy apparently climbed over the outer barrier before falling 15 feet into a shallow moat.

A special response team shot and killed the 17-year-old western lowland gorilla named Harambe, to protect the boy.

Read: Zoo officials shoot gorilla dead after four-year-old boy falls into enclosure>

Read: “My son fell in with the gorilla”- Police release mother’s frantic 911 call from Cincinnati Zoo>

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