Multiple ducks have been killed at TeWinkle Park in Costa Mesa since Easter Sunday and police are investigating the shootings.
“And so these bright white objects are the bullets … There’s one here, one here, one here, one here,” said Dr. Elizabeth Wood, medical director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach. “Unfortunately we saw both pellets, which are spherical, and also actual bullets.”
The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center is investigating the slayings and assisting the Costa Mesa Police Department.
“It’s horrendous. Nothing upsets us more. These are animals that have been loved by the local community in the local park,” Wood said.
Michelle Berger, who’s been visiting TeWinkle Park for decades and educating others on its
wildlife, noticed the birds were alive and well on Easter Sunday, but discovered four were dead the next morning on Monday, April 18. She was the first person to alert authorities.
“There’s people that are sick. They’re just monsters, and this is not the first time that this has happened here, but it’s very disconcerting, and it’s scary to the public to know that someone has come here with a gun,” Berger said.
Costa Mesa Police have stepped up patrols in the area, and Mayor John Stephens said the city is taking measures to prevent this type of animal abuse from happening again.
In the meantime, investigators have collected the ammunition from the dead ducks and are trying to lift fingerprints from the bullet fragments and pellets.
“It is also well documented that crimes against animals can then progress to crimes against people, so it’s definitely imperative to have an investigation,” Wood said.
“There’s a lot of people here that are very upset about what was done here,” Berger added.
Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to call the Costa Mesa Police Department at 714-754-5280.
