Monrovia residents upset a hunter shot a deer in their neighborhood

MONROVIA, Calif. (KABC) -- Residents in a Monrovia neighborhood are outraged a hunter shot a deer near their homes, but that hunter said he had no choice.

The hunter in question, Michael Rodriguez, spoke with Eyewitness News and said he only did what was humane for the deer after he seriously wounded it while hunting in the Angeles National Forest.

He also said he knows he violated rules by shooting the animal in a neighborhood.

It was a shocking scene caught on camera as a man armed with a bow and arrow walked through the neighborhood and then shot and killed the deer.

"This guy in the afternoon rolls out of this car, come in with a full deer pack - a hunting bow - and takes a shot at a small deer, not even a full grown deer," resident Chuck Tapert said.

But Rodriguez said the video doesn't show the entire story.

"The real story was that I was not some lunatic with a bow in the back of a vehicle just looking to shoot a deer in a residential area," he said.

He added that he was hunting in the forest that morning, which is legal. The licensed hunter said his first arrow only wounded the deer and it then ran down into the residential area.

He said he followed the deer and waited for a chance to put it out of its misery.

"It was wounded and it was suffering and it was acting like a wounded animal would. It was being normal one second and then it was being unpredictable the next. I was up there for hours before I took the shot," Rodriguez said.

But residents on the quiet street said they're angry.

"Kids are around here. People are walking their dogs. This guy in broad daylight comes out and starts hunting in a neighborhood," Tapert said.

Rodriguez said he reported the incident that day to Monrovia police and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. This was the first deer he ever shot and said he knows he violated the rules, but had no choice.

"It was acting unpredictable and I saw an opportunity and I made a judgement call. I was worried about others being hurt or possibly getting in a collision with this deer, and it was suffering so I took the shot," Rodriguez said.

He met with fish and wildlife officials Saturday and he was issued an order to appear in court in two weeks to sort out the incident in court.