Buffalo owner killed, Kansas deputy seriously injured in attack

ELLSWORTH COUNTY, Kan. — A Kansas man was likely gored by a buffalo and a deputy was seriously injured after an attack, officials say.

On Monday morning, a woman called Ellsworth County 911 to report she found her nephew’s body in a pen, KSNW reports.

She told dispatchers that she thought a buffalo had killed him.

Ellsworth County deputies and Claflin EMS were dispatched to where the woman said her nephew was. They found the man’s body in a row of trees north of K-4 Highway at 5th Road.

The victim was 56-year-old Scott Schroeder, of rural Bushton, Kansas. He was the owner of more than 20 buffalo kept at the location.

Sheriff Murray Marston said they are waiting for an autopsy report, but the coroner’s preliminary cause of death is that Schroeder had been gored by an animal.

Sunday night, just hours before deputies found the man dead, another Ellsworth County deputy received a call about a buffalo on K-4 Highway at 5th Road, about a quarter-mile away. Rice County dispatch was also contacted about the report since the south side of K-4 is in Rice County.

The Ellsworth County deputy found the animal and tried to get it to return to a pasture. That’s when the buffalo suddenly charged at him. The deputy was seriously injured.

A Rice County deputy arrived just as the animal was attacking the Ellsworth County deputy and was able to put the buffalo down.

EMS crews took the deputy to a nearby hospital. He underwent surgery Sunday night and is now in stable condition. His name has not been released.

Marston said both incidents are still under investigation. The sheriff is investigating to see if the same, or different animals, attacked the men.