Michelle Gregg To Face Criminal Charges After Gorilla Harambe Was Killed At Cincinnati Zoo? It’s Possible

As if people weren’t already upset enough that the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla Harambe was shot dead, Michelle Gregg further infuriated netizens when she refused to apologize for her son "accidentally" falling into the enclosure Saturday. Now, the mother could face criminal charges, the Cincinnati Police Department told Hollywood Life in an exclusive report Tuesday.

“We are investigating what led up to the boy getting into the enclosure. We have a lot of people to speak with and video footage to review,” Lt. Steve Saunders of the Cincinnati Police Department said. “We are investigating the interaction between the young boy and the parent who was with him at the time.”

The zoo is definitely not at fault. “We are not investigating the zoo or the safety of the zoo,” he said. “We hope to have an update as soon as possible, but it could take up to a week.”

Many people felt the 17-year-old Western lowland gorilla, who weighed 400 pounds, should have been shot with a tranquilizer gun instead of being killed — Harambe was fatally shot by a zoo staffer after he refused orders to leave his habitat — but a tranquilizer gun wouldn’t have worked fast enough, said zoo authorities, and could have alarmed the animal.

Gregg commented on the incident in a Facebook post, saying it was just an “accident” that could have happened to anyone. That post was later deleted. “As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids,” she said. “God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes ... no broken bones or internal injuries.”

Harambe had a life expectancy of 60 years until he was fatally shot in order to save the boy from further harm.

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