NSW cops have shot a magpie after it attacked an old lady

Last week, NSW police shot down a swooping magpie after it attacked an old lady in the street. Apparently, this particular magpie had a reputation for trying to punch on with pedestrians visiting Wyrallah Rd Shopping Centre in East Lismore, as Vice reports.

The magpie in question reportedly swept at a 70-year-old woman, which caused her to fall down and injure her knee. The NSW police force responded in the most “we just joined the force because we reckoned guns were cool aye” way imaginable and shot the magpie point blank in broad daylight.

Richmond Police District Inspector David Vandergriend has implied that this isn’t uncommon and that often officers will “destroy magpies that are putting members of the public at risk”… “destroy”.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage states that “Magpies are protected throughout NSW, and it is against the law to kill the birds, collect their eggs, or harm their young.

However, the NSW Police force has a handbook dedicated to the feathered menaces, stating that Police are “authorised to kill an Australian magpie as long as it is not in a national park, nature reserve or historic site, or on private property without the property owner’s approval.” via Vice.