A Mississippi mother says she fatally shot one of the monkeys that escaped from a truck last week, claiming she feared the animal posed a danger to her children and others in the area.

“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Jessica Bond Ferguson, who has five children ranging in age from 4 to 16, told the Associated Press. “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that’s when he fell.”

The professional chef said she was awakened early Sunday morning by her 16-year-old son, who said he thought he saw a monkey running through their yard near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She says she sprung out of bed, grabbed her gun and cellphone, and went outside, where she spotted the monkey about 60 feet away.

Before bolting out the door, Ms. Ferguson called the police, who told her to keep an eye on the monkey, but she worried that it could have been a threat to other children in the neighborhood.

“If it attacked somebody’s kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me,” she said. “It’s kind of scary and dangerous that they are running around, and people have kids playing in their yards.”

A truck transporting Rhesus monkeys, used for medical research at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center at New Orleans, crashed Tuesday on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg. According to Tulane, 13 of the 21 monkeys aboard were recovered at the crash site and reached their intended destination last week. Five others were fatally shot during the search effort, while three remained at large as of Sunday.

Rhesus monkeys rank as one of the most extensively researched animals in medical science. Footage captured following the accident depicted the monkeys moving through roadside grass near the highway, surrounded by damaged and scattered wooden crates marked “live animals.”

Initial reports said the monkeys were infected with various diseases including Covid, but Tulane officials quickly dispelled those rumors saying that they were not infectious and those recovered had checkups to confirm they were free of pathogens.

According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, rhesus macaques “are known to be aggressive.” The agency stated that its conservation officers were collaborating with sheriff’s deputies in an effort to locate the remaining monkeys.