Dangerous, aggressive 2,000-pound rodeo bull still on the loose in Stanly County

NORWOOD, N.C. (WBTV) - Norwood in Stanly County, North Carolina is a small town with a big problem. Officials say a large bull escaped its enclosure and made the run for freedom. This is no ordinary animal. Police tell us it’s primarily used in rodeos and is extremely aggressive and dangerous.

In an update sent to WBTV News on Monday, October 10, Norwood Police say the bull is still on the loose and is “still out roaming around.”

Everybody around here is keeping an eye out for this bull, but no one has any idea where it took off to.

“Just riding through, me and my buddy here.”

Scott Wilson and his riding partner were out enjoying the backroads of Norwood on their motorcycles and were surprised to hear about the wayward steer. He says a collision with the bull in a car would be dangerous enough, but on a motorcycle, it’s a whole other ballgame.

“That would be devastating. Deadly, deadly. Probably be killed,” Wilson exclaimed.

Norwood police say a rodeo bull who was at this livestock market on Wednesday, broke free from its pen and headed for the hills. This is no ordinary animal. Town officials tell me it’s very aggressive, and a danger to anyone who encounters it.

“We’ve heard he’s seven hundred pounds, we’ve heard he’s eighteen hundred pounds, we’ve heard he’s twenty-two hundred pounds,” one resident said.

Though the size of the bull is more like a fish story to locals, it’s what everybody was talking about at Chip’s Lake Stop Friday afternoon.

“Somebody didn’t lock the gate and that big joker got out. The way I understand it he was charging cars on Indian Mound,” said Reba Luther.

Maria Shelton is the manager at the store and says normally people are commenting on her Halloween decorations, but the rodeo bull took top billing.

“This is probably something a little bit different,” said Shelton.

Police say they’re concentrating their search on other cow farms in the area, hoping the bull will want to head to familiar grounds, but even that’s been unsuccessful. Cowboys from Mooresville were called in to help corral the animal, but they weren’t able to find it.

Amber Hooks says there’s a simple solution.

“This is Norwood, we see everything. I say tranquilize it, it’s no big deal then go on with your day, " said Hooks.

Reggie Furr says he’s not thinking about the danger, more of dinner.

“We have a pasture, we just had one. I hope he comes to mine. We’ll just shoot him and eat him,” said Furr.

While that might be a solution for some, police say don’t even get that close. If you see the bull, call 911 right away.

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