On multiple occasions late last month, residents in a quiet West Barrington neighborhood found themselves under attack.

A large raccoon ambushed people on Walnut Road, Grant Street and Bradford Street in late May, but a Barrington Police Officer ended the siege on Monday, May 24, when he located the animal and put it down. 

The first reported encounter occurred Sunday, May 23, when the raccoon attacked people who were attending a banquet for a hockey team at a home on Walnut Road. Police said the raccoon first approached the tent and then charged after one of the hockey players. The raccoon then bit a 55-year-old woman who was at the party, police said. EMTs treated the woman at the scene, and she told officers she was going to drive herself to the hospital for further treatment. Police could not locate the raccoon. 

A night later, a Grant Street resident called police after the raccoon attacked again. 

Police said the resident and her friend were sitting in her backyard at about 9:30 p.m. when the raccoon attacked. It bit one of the women on her foot. A resident threw a milk crate at the animal, but it did not flee the yard. The residents retreated into their homes. That was when one of the women looked out her window and saw the raccoon standing on her front steps — it had followed her to the house. 

The residents called police, and a short time later an officer arrived on the scene. He spotted the raccoon, first sitting in a tree and later on the ground. The officer was interviewing witnesses to the attack when the raccoon made its final move — police said the animal moved aggressively toward the officer. That’s when he drew his weapon and killed it.

Prior to the Walnut Road incident, a Bradford Street resident had called the RI Department of Environmental Management after a raccoon had chased him into his home. 

Police said the animal was sent to the RI Department of Health to be tested for rabies.