A police officer was trampled by a rogue bull that appeared out of nowhere while responding to a crash on a rural highway.
The officer attended to a cattle truck that had traveled along the New England Highway at Morven, near Charleville in south-west Queensland on July 26.
Dashcam footage shows the bull orienting itself after being thrown from the truck, while emergency workers try to assess the situation along the way.
After slowly walking around a parked fire truck, the bull then charges at the officer before stomping on him and turning around to do it again.
A Queensland police officer was rammed by a bull while attending a cattle truck that overturned at Morven, near Charleville, on July 26.
The police officer took out his gun and fired a warning shot into the air, prompting the bull to back away.
The officer credited his new one Integrated load-bearing vest to save his life during the attack.
He said that even though the police are trained to be prepared for anything, the bull still managed to surprise him.
‘It is clear that police work is quite diverse. You never know what to expect on a daily basis,” he said.
‘But that was quite unexpected, and I admit, it was a bit of a shock.
‘I don’t want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t worn that vest, but let’s just say I’m pretty glad I had it on. It certainly did its job.”
The vests were introduced statewide in January and Acting Senior Sergeant Lisle Manthey said it will make all officers safer.
“The officer attacked by the bull was able to walk away from this incident because of the impeccable safety and capabilities of this vest. Without this, the officer could have suffered life-threatening injuries or worse,” Sergeant Manthey said.
After being trampled by the bull, the officer fired his gun into the air to defuse the situation. Acting Senior Sergeant Lisle Manthey said the officer’s new vest saved his life