Police shoot 15-foot snake wrapped around owner’s neck

Man is recovering in hospital

Police in rural Pennsylvania were called to a nightmare scene on Wednesday afternoon, finding a man unresponsive with his 15-foot pet snake wrapped around his body.

“It’s one of those situations where the officers don’t have the time, the liberty to ask a lot of questions,” Upper Macungie Township Police lieutenant Peter Nickischer told The Independent. “They have to act right away and then it’s a matter of, OK, let’s get this person into the ambulance as soon as possible.”

The 28-year-old victim, whose identity has not been released, is in a local hospital getting treatment.

Officers were called around 2pm, likely by a family member inside the house, to the town of Fogelsville on reports of a man in cardiac arrest with a snake wrapped around his neck.

Inside, they found the man in “very serious” condition, according to Lt Nickischer.

The snake was long enough that its head was far enough away from the man’s body for officers to safely take a shot.

The creature reportedly did not die instantly and slithered away.

Officers then dragged the unresponsive man to a waiting EMS crew and several members of the local fire department, who began treating him.

The police lieutenant says in his 19 years doing police work, he’s seen “nothing like this” and that the snake, which eventually died, was “very long, very thick.”

Police discovered multiple snake enclosures in the individual’s home.

They’re unsure what species of snake wrapped around the man, and don’t plan any further investigations.

“It was an accident really,” Lt Nickischer said. “It’s just about that person hopefully making a full recovery in the hospital.”