New Mexico Livestock Board officials said they were forced to shoot and kill a bull that got loose last weekend from the Cattleman's Livestock Auction north of Belen, then ran through town and was making its way to a baseball game near Belen High School, the Valencia County News-Bulletin reported today on its Web site.

Belen Police Chief Mike Chavez said officers first were alerted that a bull was running loose in the area of Main Street and Aragon Road, and Officer Jim Mietzner first saw the animal running across Aragon Road pursued by a man on horseback, the News-Bulletin reported.

Mietzner lost sight of the bull, which was then spotted by an animal control officer on Tenth and Church streets and was headed toward Belen High School, making it as far as the parking lot, the paper said.

Officers guided the bull off school property and kept their eyes on the runaway until a livestock inspector arrived on the scene, and one officer located Charlie Meyers, who had sold the bull to a new owner a day earlier, the News-Bulletin said.

Meyers told police that the new owner had been trying to lead the bull into a trailer when it jumped over the top and led two horsemen on a chase, the paper reported.

"Mr. Meyers then requested that we just shoot it before it hurts someone," according to police reports.

Livestock inspector April Riggs found the bull behind the high school, shot the bull once in the chest as Mietzner pulled his police unit alongside and opened his car door, the paper said.

"The bull then jumped up and rammed the door," Police Chief Chavez told the News-Bulletin. "The door hit (Mietzner), cutting him under his left eye. His shoulder was hurting, and he had swelling on his face."

After the bull rammed the police car, Riggs took aim again and shot the bull -- this time in the head, according to the News-Bulletin. 

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