Community attends vigil Sunday for elk killed by Boulder police

BOULDER, Colo. – A candlelight vigil took place Sunday night for the elk that was killed by two Boulder police officers on Mapleton Hill.

Community members celebrated the life of the bull elk at 5:30 p.m. on Mountain View Road.

The two police officers who killed the elk in a west Boulder neighborhood late Tuesday night have been suspended.

An officer was on patrol near Mapleton Avenue and Ninth Street and shot the elk because it thought it had been injured. An off-duty officer helped him carry it away and process the elk for meat.

Neither officer reported shooting the elk.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office has launched an internal investigation to determine what role the on-duty sheriff’s deputy played that night.

Residents were angry when they heard about the elk’s death — who they have nicknamed “Big Boy.”

According to the paper, the elk had been spotted for several weeks on Mapleton Hill, and many people living in the neighborhood said the elk had not behaved aggressively toward humans. Some even considered the elk their “guardian,” the paper stated.

The vigil was open to the public.