A farmer in Jones, Oklahoma, was fatally attacked by two water buffalo he had purchased just a day prior, police reported on Tuesday.
Bradley McMichael, 45, died Friday night from severe injuries sustained on his family farm, located about 20 miles from Oklahoma City. Jones police responded to an emergency call around 8:35 p.m., with officers arriving to find McMichael trapped by the aggressive animals.
First responders were “initially unable to reach the victim due to the aggressive behavior of the animals,” Jones Police Chief Bryan Farrington said in a statement, per NBC News.
After a brief delay of about three minutes, officials shot one water buffalo to secure access. McMichael had suffered multiple deep lacerations and was pronounced dead at the scene.
As investigators processed the area, a second water buffalo grew increasingly agitated, posing a threat to emergency personnel. Police killed the second animal to ensure safety. A preliminary investigation suggests McMichael became trapped while tending to the animals, possibly preparing water, according to his fiancée, Jennifer Green.
“He wouldn’t have been casual … he was very experienced,” Green said, per NBC. “The stock tanks were not full of water yet. So we’re not sure if he was dumping them out to fill them with fresh water before he left. But that’s when it happened.”
McMichael had acquired the water buffaloes at a livestock auction on July 10. His ex-wife, Amy Smith, described his lifelong dedication to farming.
“The cattle farming, that’s his thing,” she told Oklahoma’s News 4. “He’s been here his whole life, and he’s done that his whole life. So, he’s an experienced cattle handler and a farmer.”
Green added, per NBC, “His farm was his dream, and I had the privilege of helping him with it for a little while.”
The property, home to cattle, lambs, and goats for at least three generations, was McMichael’s passion.
“Farming, our son, and the community of Jones meant everything to him,” Smith said, NBC reported.
He leaves behind his 21-year-old son Rylan, a sister, his mother, and his grandmother.
Green noted the outpouring of support from Jones residents, telling NBC News, “I don’t know if [McMichael] knew that people loved him as much as they do.”
Most water buffalo “have a docile and placid nature, not aggressive toward humans,” according to a report by the Western Sydney Institute of TAFE. “If a buffalo feels threatened, however, it may charge and thrash its head from side to side, posing a potential danger. Regardless of temperament, risks are still present, for example, accidental crushing, horn impaling, etc., and the animal should never be regarded as harmless.”
In 2015, a water buffalo rampaged through the streets of a city in Vietnam, injuring ten people, before it was gunned down at a kindergarten.