SURREY 鈥� A small coyote appeared to stalk and take down a four-year-old girl on the sidewalk in front of Mary Jane Shannon Elementary Monday evening.

Cheryl O鈥橠onnell said she arrived on the scene seconds later, at 144th Street and 108th Avenue at about 6:15 p.m., honking her car horn and screaming. The coyote retreated after several attempts, O鈥橠onnell said.

According to conservation officer service Insp. Murray Smith, this isn鈥檛 the first report of a coyote near Mary Jane Shannon Elementary.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had multiple reports from the parents in the neighbourhood that they鈥檝e seen this coyote regularly by the school yard,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if the kids have fed it but I鈥檓 quite sure someone has.鈥�

Smith said that conservation officers are opting to put down the coyote rather than relocated it because it doesn鈥檛 seem scared of people and because it went after a child and not a pet.

鈥淲e have a coyote that will associate people with food,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not worth the risk.鈥�

性视界传媒 RCMP Corporal Scotty Schumann said police typically don鈥檛 attend animal incidents but that 鈥�911 seems to be the only phone number that people are familiar with for all types of call. Animal control is one of them. So we do get a lot of calls for variety, dogs, goats, cow, horses, bears and coyotes.鈥�

In this case, Schumann said RCMP attended and consulted with conservation officers.

鈥淲e learned quite a bit about coyotes, including they don鈥檛 eat people,鈥� added Schumann. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 concerned about this animal and they weren鈥檛 going to attend鈥�. So we just watched the coyote walk back into the forest.鈥�

He said the file is now closed.

Police say the girl 鈥済ot some scrapes from falling鈥� and emergency officials treated the girl at scene.

性视界传媒 RCMP didn鈥檛 have details on the parents鈥� whereabouts.

Katya Slepian and Amy Reid