A buffalo was shot to death after injuring a Kansas deputy Sunday. Its owner was then found dead.

A charging buffalo was put down after seriously injuring a sheriff's deputy early Sunday evening in Ellsworth County in central Kansas, said Sheriff Murray Marston.

The buffalo's owner — Scott Schroeder, 56, of rural Bushton — was then found dead Monday morning, apparently having been gored by the same buffalo.

The deputy's name hasn't been made public. He was listed in stable condition after being operated on at a Salina hospital, Marston said.

The deputy responded after a caller reported at 6:48 p.m. that a buffalo was out on K-4 highway, which is Ellsworth County's southern boundary with Rice County, Marston said.

The deputy was trying to get the buffalo to return to a pasture when it suddenly charged him and injured him, Marston said.

"A Rice County deputy arrived at the scene of the attack last night just as it occurred and the buffalo was put down when it appeared that it was preparing to charge at the down deputy," he said.

The injured deputy was taken by ambulance to an Ellsworth hospital, then to a Salina hospital, Marston said.

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Deputies were then called at 9:03 a.m. Monday to the pen where Schroeder’s aunt had found him, about a quarter of a mile away, he said.

The coroner's preliminary conclusion, pending results of an autopsy, was that Schroeder had been gored to death by an animal, Marston said.

Schroeder owned the 20-plus buffalo that were being kept at that location, he said.

Ellsworth, the county seat of Ellsworth County, is located about 150 miles west/southwest of Topeka.

Circumstances of both incidents remain under investigation.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.