SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A tiger escaped from its cage at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday, killing one visitor and injuring two others.

The tiger was shot and killed, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ken Smith told the San Francisco Chronicle. It was not immediately clear how the tiger escaped.

The attack happened in a cafe at the east end of the zoo shortly after the 5 p.m. closing time, the Chronicle reported. The tiger cages are near the center of the zoo.

The zoo was evacuated.

Police officers and firefighters are investigating. Police, fire and zoo officials could not immediately provide details on the attacks to The Associated Press.

Officials at first worried that four tigers had escaped, but only one got out of its pen, Smith said. Last December, one of the zoo’s tigers mauled a zookeeper during a regular public feeding.

The 350-pound animal reached through the cage’s iron bars and badly lacerated her arm. The zoo’s Lion House was temporarily closed during an investigation.

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