ST. PETERSBURG, FL (AP) — A St. Petersburg rooster who used to herald the new day was silenced after a man allegedly fatally shot the bird. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says Eric Nicastro took a BB gun and went after the young auburn cock Saturday morning. He later upgraded to a handgun and chased the rooster into a neighbor’s yard.

After shots were fired, a neighbor said she heard Nicastro say: “I got him!” Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Bordner says Nicastro then threw the rooster’s body into a creek. Deputies who responded to the scene saw Nicastro toting a gun. He was cited for improper exhibition of a firearm and given a warning for trespassing. The state attorney’s office will decide whether to charge him.

It’s unclear who owned the rooster.

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