A fox that bit three kids and scratched an adult Wednesday in Charlotte tested positive for rabies.
The fox was sleeping in a flower bed at Primrose preschool in Steele Creek, when Melissa Knicely with CMPD Animal Care and Control said it woke up, made its way through a fence, bit two children, and scratched a teacher trying to fend the fox off. Knicely said officers suspected rabies right away.
"Typically wildlife isn't going to take a nap outside of a really busy school yard where there’s going to be children outside, yelling and playing and stuff like that," says Knicely.
The fox then showed up at Robert F. Kennedy Middle School next door and bit an 11-year-old girl watching football practice. When animal control caught up with the fox, it was under the bleachers and still aggressive. An off-duty police officer hearing the call came by to help and ended up shooting the fox when it went after officers. As with any police shooting, CMPD Internal Affairs is conducting an investigation.
All four victims are undergoing rabies prevention treatment. Animal Care and Control has dealt with 15 wild animals with rabies in Mecklenburg County so far this year. Nearly all of those involve a rabid animal biting a pet, not a human.