Deputy Seriously Injured By Charging Bison After Owner Gored To Death

Ellsworth County, KS – An Ellsworth County deputy was severely injured on Sunday and a second man was killed after they were attacked by bison in two separate incidents.

Ellsworth County Sheriff Murray Marston said in a press release on Monday that his department received a call at approximately 6:38 p.m. on Aug. 7 advising that a bison was out on K-4 Highway at 5th Road.

A deputy responded to the scene and located the massive animal, then attempted to clear it off of the roadway and into a nearby pasture.

Sheriff Marston said that was when the bison “suddenly charged him,” according to the press release.

The ECSO deputy suffered serious injuries as a result of the incident.

The sheriff said a Rice County deputy arrived at the scene just as the attack occurred.

“The buffalo was put down when it appeared that it was preparing to charge at the down deputy,” according to Sheriff Marston.

The ECSO deputy was rushed by ambulance to the Ellsworth County Medical Center, and then was later transferred to Salina Regional Health Center.

Sheriff Marston said the injured deputy underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition on Monday,

“I talked to his wife,” Sheriff Marston told KWCH. “He’s sitting up, eating, and improving.”

At approximately 9 a.m. the following morning, ECSO received a 911 call from a woman who reported she found her nephew dead in a pen and that she believed a buffalo had killed him, the sheriff said in the press release.

ECSO deputies and emergency medical personnel located the deceased victim lying in a row of trees approximately one-quarter of a mile away from where the deputy had been injured the night prior, Sheriff Marston said.

The victim was identified as 56-year-old Scott Schroeder.

The sheriff said the coroner preliminarily determined that Schroeder, who owned at least 20 bison that were being kept at that location, had been gored to death.

The investigation into both incidents remained ongoing on Monday.

Sheriff Marston said the deadly incident is a reminder that livestock owners “need to take every precaution that they can to keep those animals contained” to prevent people from being hurt, KWCH reported.