A deer roaming downtown Lancaster today was shot by police and then jumped three stories to its death from a parking garage, nearly landing on top of a startled construction worker.

It was the second time in less than two weeks that a deer wandered into the heart of downtown and led police on a bizarre chase, ending with an officer having to shoot the animal.

Shortly before 6:30 a.m., police received reports of a wounded deer lying in the entranceway of Shaub's Shoe Shop, 18 N. Queen St., a half a block north of Penn Square.

Police huddled on whether to shoot the deer, because a crowd was gathering. Sgt. Pete Glatfelter, a city police spokesman, said the deer had obvious injuries and appeared to be "very much in distress."

The decision was made to try to put the deer out of its misery. One officer told a witness that police did not have the means to tranquilize the deer.

Bystanders were told to go to Penn Square and a police officer with a rifle shot the deer.

The bullet from the gun apparently went through the deer's head and ricocheted off the concrete and into one of the store's two glass doors. The glass, which contained a "Downtown Friendly" sticker, cracked but did not fall.

Police thought the deer was put down but the whitetail doe jumped up and ran across Queen Street and into Penn Square, according to witnesses.

"Dude, I shot him! I saw blood coming from his mouth." one exasperated officer said to another.

The deer ran across East King Street, then jumped a 3-foot concrete barrier at the edge of the Watt & Shand facade.

The deer jumped back onto King Street briefly, falling as it landed. Staggering now, it made a right turn onto Christian Street and up the ramp into the King Street Garage.

Moments later, Carlos Flores, a 38-year-old concrete worker walking on the Lancaster County Convention Center work site, caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

A deer plopped onto the gravel, dead, missing him by about 5 feet. The deer had jumped from about three stories, landing about 20 feet from East Vine Street.

His heart still beating fast nearly an hour after the incident, Flores, a native of Ecuador, kept glancing up at the parking garage.

"I was scared. It almost came on my back," said Flores, who lives in Baltimore.

For his ordeal, police granted Flores' request to keep the deer. He had it in an ice chest and plans to take it to a friend for butchering.

At Shaub's, employee Bob Kilefner said there was no damage other than a few shards of broken glass. A repair company was on the scene fixing the door as soon as the store opened, he said. It was unclear today who will pay the bill.

Asked about police policy of shooting versus capturing deer trapped in the city, Sgt. Bill Gleason said, "Every incident is going to be different.

"The best scenario is if you can get the animal to stay in one spot" and try to capture or corner it, Gleason said.

"But when you are in an urban environment and you have a deer running around, it can cause an accident and the deer itself usually gets hurt. I can't recall any that turned out well."

Asked about the damage to the store from firing a gun at the deer, Gleason said, "We're not going to fire a weapon in the city unless it's a situation that absolutely requires it."

The deer encounter is surprisingly similar to one just 13 days ago in the same area of downtown.

In that early afternoon incident, a buck was shot after it wandered into the busy city and injured itself after running into the side of a police car.

Residents first reported seeing the deer in the 300 block of South Queen Street. The deer slammed into a police cruiser looking for it, then fled into Penn Square where another officer and two James Street Improvement District officers on bicycles gave chase.

The wounded and confused deer then ran into Orange Street where it was hit by a car. Still on its feet, the deer fled through back yards on North Queen Street, jumping some fences and running into others.

It finally was surrounded by officers and residents on foot in a backyard near The Brickyard restaurant in the 400 block of North Prince Street.

Exhausted and bleeding, the deer was shot by a police officer.

Deer moving into the city — most likely from Lancaster County Central Park, the Sunnyside peninsula or woods behind Franklin & Marshall College's Baker Fields on Harrisburg Pike — are an occasional occurrence.

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