Mountain lion kills man in Northern California in state's first fatal attack in 20 years

A mountain lion attack in a remote Northern California region west of Lake Tahoe left one man dead and another injured, officials said, the first fatal incident in the state in 20 years.

An 18-year-old man called 911 on Saturday after 1 p.m. to report that he and his brother had been attacked in Georgetown, a small town north of Placerville, California, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.

The man who alerted authorities sustained "traumatic injuries to his face" and was separated from his brother during the attack, officials said. He was administered aid and transported to a nearby hospital.

Sheriff's deputies and paramedics searched for the brother and found a crouched mountain lion next to a man on the ground, authorities said. Deputies fired shots "scaring the mountain lion off so they could render aid" to the man on the ground. However, the unidentified 21-year-old man had died.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the El Dorado County Trapper were dispatched to the region. They found the mountain lion "and dispatched it," according to a news release.

How many fatal mountain lion attacks have there been in recent years?

Before Saturday's attack, there had been only three fatal mountain lion attacks on humans in California since 1994, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Of those three incidents, the most recent involved a 35-year-old male who was fatally mauled in 2004 at Whiting Ranch Regional Park in Orange County.

The last fatal mountain lion attack in El Dorado County occurred in 1994 when a 40-year-old woman was killed at Auburn state recreation area.

Authorities said mountain lion attacks are rare, and most verified encounters between the big cats and humans are not fatal.

Boy, 5, attacked while out for a walk

In 2023, a mountain lion attacked a 5-year-old boy who was out on a walk with his mother and grandparents near Half Moon Bay, California, a beach community south of San Francisco.

In that incident, the mountain lion pounced on Jack Trexler, pinning him to the ground. The boy's mother charged at the animal, causing it to let go of her son and run away, according to the boy's father. The attack occurred near a farm where the family lives in Half Moon Bay.

The boy was treated and released from a hospital for cuts and scratches on his face and all over his body and for a fracture near his eye.