SHELLEY — A Bingham County sheriff’s deputy was injured Sunday afternoon when he was knocked to the ground and attacked by a cow after Idaho State Police had shut down Interstate 15 southbound near Shelley due to cattle roaming the freeway following a cattle truck fire.
The injured deputy, whose name hasn’t been released, fatally shot the cow in self-defense and was then transported via ambulance to a local hospital.
The deputy had responded to Interstate 15 after a southbound 2005 Kenworth semi transporting cattle had caught fire and pulled over around 1:40 p.m. in the area of the Shelley exit.
The cattle had been unloaded by the semi’s driver, a 40-year-old St. Anthony man, as a precaution and emergency responders were attempting to corral them when one of the bovines fled into the freeway’s northbound lanes, which were still open to traffic, the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office said.
When the deputy approached the cow, it charged him and knocked him to the ground. The cow then continued to attack the deputy while he was on the ground, causing him to fatally shoot the animal in self-defense, the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office stated.
Authorities said the cow had been injured when the cattle truck caught fire and this might have made the animal more aggressive.
Following the incident, the deputy was transported via Shelley Ambulance to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
Interstate 15 southbound was closed to all traffic for about four hours while the cows were rounded up and placed in another vehicle for transport.
The semi’s trailer, where the fire occurred, suffered significant damage. The fire ignited in the area of the trailer’s tires and then spread to much of the rest of the trailer before being extinguished by Shelley firefighters.
While the fire-damaged trailer had to be towed from the scene, the semi’s cab appeared to be unscathed by the flames.
Authorities said the cattle truck was transporting several cows when the fire occurred and some of them suffered injuries during the incident. It’s believed the only cow that died at the scene was the one shot by the deputy when he was attacked.
The cows did not cause any crashes while roaming the freeway, authorities said.
The incident remains under investigation by state police.