Police shot and killed a steer that escaped from an overturned truck this morning, saying they had no choice because the animal was charging at people.

“It charged at one of the officers, right at him, and he had no choice,” Provincial police Sgt. Dave Woodford said.

He explained that the animal had actually hit and thrown four other people in a residential neighbourhood of Mississauga. No one was seriously injured.

“These things are big animals and they’re just like bulls. When they charge at you, they’re going to throw you,” he said.

The steer escaped from a cattle truck, along with two cows and a bull. The truck overturned at about 6:40 a.m., snarling traffic on the Queen Elizabeth Way near Highway 427.

Two of the animals ended up in the backyard of a home on Brentano Boulevard.

Initially, the animals were peaceful, calmly munching away at the shrubs in the garden.

“They were rubbing up against my father’s shed. They were fine in the backyard. I guess when they tried to get them out of the backyard, that’s when they got really restless,” said resident Teresa Nimer-Boutros.

The steer got spooked when handlers tried to corral it and force it into a replacement truck. One of a number of portable iron gates used to guide the animals into the truck fell, scaring the steer. He knocked over the driver of the truck who was helping in the effort.

“The one hit the bird bath and then flew over the hood,” Nimer-Boutros said.

The animal fled down the street.

Soon after, witnesses said they heard about 15 shots fired. They questioned why the animal couldn’t have been tranquilized.

OPP and Peel Regional Police had just been discussing that possibility when the steer charged at the officer.