A cruel Texas man faces a year behind bars for gunning down a bald eagle that dared to land on his property, prosecutors said.
Santos Guerrero, 42, admitted to firing on the innocent symbol of the Land of the Free as it was perched in a tree at his Port home in October 2024, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said Thursday.
The heartless slaying was captured on video, which showed the bald eagle — a protected species — plummeting to the ground, prosecutors said.
The bald eagle was shot in the wing and fell to the ground. Houston Chronicle via Getty Images Authorities used the video to track the scene of the crime to Guerrero’s residence, and found the poor animal still alive and suffering.
The bald eagle was rushed to an animal hospital, but had to be euthanized due to its injuries, officials said.
A necropsy determined that Guerrero’s bullet caused significant damage to the eagle’s wing, and the impact from the fall caused liver fractures, internal bleeding and a fractured leg.
Guerrero admitted to shooting the bird as part of a guilty plea, but it’s not clear why he fired at the poor bird.
Bald eagles are no longer listed as endangered but remain protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which prohibits killing, possessing, selling, transporting, exporting or importing any bald or golden eagle.
Guerrero now faces up to a year in federal prison and a $100,000 maximum fine.
