Mountain lion creates stir in Brentwood, prompts school lockdown

A mountain lion wandered into the Brentwood area Thursday, prompting a precautionary lockdown of an elementary school.

Police responded to the area of Gretna Green Way and San Vicente Boulevard shortly after 10 a.m.

The lion was initially hiding amid some trees in an alleyway near the Brentwood Country Club.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials were called to the scene in hopes of tranquilizing the lion. According to reports from the scene, the lion bolted when wildlife officials tried to approach it several hours later, and the cat hid in a wooded area near the country club golf course.

Around 2 p.m., the lion was believed to have been hit with at least one tranquilizer dart, but it managed to run from wildlife officials, scrambling up a tree. According to reports from the scene, the lion was struck by at least one more dart, and officials stood by, waiting for the lion to fall asleep.

But about an hour later, the lion leapt from the tree and scrambled away again, appearing to show no signs of slowing from the tranquilizer. Residents in the area were being advised to remain indoors.

The lion did not appear to be wearing a tracking collar, meaning it is not one of the dozens being tracked by federal wildlife officials in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Nearby Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School was placed on a precautionary lockdown due to the lion, but students were expected to be released from the campus on schedule from an alternate pick-up location.

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