An escaped hog was shot by Brookhaven police Thursday after it got loose from the sale barn and was headed toward Hwy. 51.

The Brookhaven Police Department responded at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to a call of a shot fired at the Lincoln County sale barn, Police Chief Bobby Bell said.

The shot was fired at a 600-pound hog that escaped from the sale barn and was headed toward Hwy. 51, Bell said. The animal had been in a pen at the sale barn since Tuesday. BPD and animal control attempted to herd the hog back into the barn but could not get the animal to cooperate, he said.

The hog kept running toward the woods and the road, Bell said. BPD determined the best course of action for the safety of residents would be to shoot the hog.