Gorilla incident at London zoo ‘concluded,’ police say

Police and evacuated visitors stand outside London Zoo after a gorilla escaped in London, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. London police say an incident involving a gorilla that escaped from its enclosure at the London Zoon has been concluded. There are reports the animal was subdued Thursday with a tranquilizer gun and recaptured. There were no initial reports of injuries. (Lynne Chapman via AP) Police and evacuated visitors stand outside London Zoo after a gorilla escaped in London, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. London police say an incident involving a gorilla that escaped from its enclosure at the London Zoon has been concluded. There are reports the animal was subdued Thursday with a tranquilizer gun and recaptured. There were no initial reports of injuries. (Lynne Chapman via AP)

By Associated Press October 13, 2016 2 min read

LONDON (AP) – A potentially dangerous incident involving an escaped gorilla was “concluded” at the London Zoo Thursday evening, police said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries to the public, although visitors to the central London zoo were briefly locked down in a cafeteria and heavily armed police were summoned to help zoo workers hunt down the animal.

The animal was apparently subdued by a tranquilizer gun and recaptured. The zoo, inside Regent’s Park in a crowded London neighborhood, houses at least seven gorillas in its popular Gorilla Kingdom attraction.

One of the animals escaped Thursday afternoon, forcing a lockdown of visitors and prompting zoo officials to summon heavily armed police.

Witness Brad Evans told BBC Radio that he was drinking coffee in the zoo cafeteria when zoo workers told them there were locked in and couldn’t leave because a gorilla had gotten out of its enclosure.