(CNN) Police officers shot a man’s pet snake after they arrived at a Pennsylvania home to find the reptile wrapped around its owner’s neck, rendering him unconscious.
The 27-year-old man, Elliot Senseman, died Monday in a hospital due to an “anoxic brain injury,” the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office and Forensics Center said in a statement.
The snake died from its injuries, Upper Macungie Township Police Department Lt. Peter Nickischer told CNN.
Nickischer said two police officers responded at 2:12 p.m. on Wednesday to the house in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania, a rural town in the eastern part of the state, where the man reportedly suffered cardiac arrest after the snake wrapped itself around his throat.
He said after entering the house, the officers encountered a family member who guided them toward the owner, who was lying unresponsive, choked by the snake’s midsection.
“It was a dire situation. It was without a doubt a life-and-death situation for this person.”
The snake totaled at least 15 feet in length, he said. [Responding officers initially estimated the snake was 15 feet long, but its length later was measured at 18 feet. – USA TODAY]
“A Boa Constrictor type snake approximately 18’ in length constricted around the neck of Mr. Senseman, thus causing the anoxic brain injury (complete lack of oxygen to the brain),” the release says.
The man was keeping the snake at the house as a pet, and officers found two other snakes in the home, Nickischer said … READ MORE.
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