Police clear Denver Zoo in jaguar killing

DENVER, June 7 (UPI) -- A police investigation has cleared the Denver Zoo of any responsibility for a fatal attack by a jaguar on a zookeeper.

The zoo's own investigation, done jointly with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and state agencies, is still under way, The Rocky Mountain News reported.

The keeper, Ashlee Pfaff, was mauled Feb. 24 in a contained service area in the Feline Building. Zoo employees tried to drive the jaguar away with a fire extinguisher but were forced to shoot it.

Pfaff died at a hospital about 90 minutes after she was attacked. The jaguar was euthanized after veterinarians at the zoo hospital determined that its wounds were untreatable.

Sonny Jackson, a spokesman for the Denver Police Department, said Wednesday the investigation found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.