Traffic in an Alabama county was recently brought to a standstill by an unlikely suspect: a kangaroo.
A kangaroo named "Sheila" held up traffic and caused two vehicles to be involved in a crash on Interstate 85 in Macon County, between Tuskegee and Auburn, shortly before noon on April 29, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) said in a post on Facebook. The incident prompted authorities to close all lanes as they worked to capture the marsupial, which was spotted hopping around the highway.
Macon County Sheriff AndreĢ Brunson livestreamed the incident as it unfolded.
"I didn't believe it," Brunson remarked during the livestream. "Nobody believed it. But I'm looking at him. ... A kangaroo, fellas, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Macon County. We see a little bit of everything here."
Video footage captured by a passerby shows the kangaroo sprinting along the roadway, as someone says: "Where are you going, buddy?"
The kangaroo was eventually tranquilized by its caretaker and captured, after which it was carried to an SUV, Brunson's video showed. The sheriff said the kangaroo was shot twice with the tranquilizer before responders could get their hands on it.
The kangaroo was not injured in the incident, ALEA said, and al.com reported, citing Brunson. The kangaroo belonged to a petting zoo in adjacent Lee County. It is not yet known how the animal made its way to the highway and Macon County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for a comment on the incident.
"We were chasing him for quite a while," Brunson said in his video. "Traffic was stopped a long way."
The sheriff added that the traffic stop was put in place to ensure the animal's and the public's safety.
"We got traffic stop so he don't run out in front of the traffic and get himself killed (or) make somebody else hurt themselves," Brunson said. "Got traffic backed up for quite some distance, but that's worth doing."
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.