Man Sought in Killing of Deer With Crossbow

It was a simple suburban pleasure for Melissa Caven, watching from her Burbank living room as three deer that had wandered down from the nearby Verdugo Mountains grazed in her front yard.

Then, to her horror, a man slid from a nearby car with a crossbow.

Her scream sent the deer scattering for the hills Sunday, but an arrow killed a fleeing 100-pound doe. It dropped dead in a driveway a block away.

The urban hunter is being sought on animal cruelty charges, said Burbank police. Officers believe that he lives in the neighborhood. His motive was unknown.

Fred DeLange, superintendent of the Burbank animal shelter, said deer in search of food and water frequently wander into neighborhoods near the parched hills that form a natural wall along the east end of Burbank. He was uncertain how many deer live in the mountains.