Chillicothe police were forced to shoot and kill a rogue monkey after his owner failed five time to shoot the animal with a tranquilizer gun.

Authorities earlier had warned the public that the White Faced Capuchin Monkey had escaped from its owner and was roaming around Chillicothe.

Police say the primate  escaped from its cage Friday morning

It then achieved its freedom by squeezing through a vent.  There were subsequent monkey sightings all around Chillicothe, and one school was placed on lockdown, according to broadcast reports.

A resident told KCTV-5 he’d had a close run in with the animal.

“I look over and seen this monkey going through the yard, and it took off running and the cops took off after it,” he told the reporters. KCTV-5 reported that the monkey belonged to a local businessman who is licensed by the USDA to breed and sell the monkeys. According to the police chief, businessman Bill Johnston has about 30 monkeys on his property.

The caper came to an end when Johnston tried to shoot the escapee with a tranquilizer gun. According to a news release from the Chillicothe Police Department, he tried and failed to tranquilize the monkey approximately five times before he authoritied officers to put the monkey down.

Shortly after four pm, after nearly eight hours on the lam, the monkey was spotted running Westbound on McCormick Street towards Washington Street, not farm from where it had been caged.

That’s when officers put the animal down.