If you recognize the town of Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, it's probably thanks to the newly constructed and widely advertised Graton Resort & Casino that opened there last year. On Monday, the City of Rohnert Park, which we can only assume is a dusty, lawless cowboy town, was terrorized by a raging bull that escaped from a ranch early that morning. It took a bunch of construction workers, a crew of firefighters, a couple guys with lassos and finally an animal control officer with some merciful aim and a .22 rifle to finally bring down the animal.

The bull reportedly escaped from a ranch near the Graton Resort & Casino around 3 a.m. and proceeded to wreak havoc on the town for the entire day. After holding up traffic on Highway 101, two firefighters with the Rincon Valley Fire Protection District told CBS5 they had to chase the bull for more than an hour yesterday afternoon. NBC Bay Area flew a chopper over to capture the action:

The construction workers came in to help steer the bull behind the firehouse where the ranch hands came out and started twirling their lassos heroically. One or two of the guys managed to actually hook him. Despite the leash, the animal took off again around 6 p.m., leveling a ranch hand on his way out. After the bull's owner gave the OK, an animal control officer put the animal down. "An animal control officer fired his .22 rifle three times," CBS5's Joe Vazquez says dramatically. "The bull was dead."

The owner did, however, get to take the bull's remains back to his ranch.

[NBC Bay Area]
[CBS5]