Report: Witness says gate blocked when lion killed intern

BURLINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A witness told authorities a gate blocked by a ball at a North Carolina animal preserve allowed a lion to reach three people at the start of a fatal attack, biting one intern's ankle and pulling her into the enclosure, according to a medical examiner's report.

A Caswell County sheriff's lieutenant advised that animal trainer Ashley Watts reported separating the 14-year-old lion named Matthai into a section of an enclosure at the Conservators Center in Burlington on Dec. 30, according to the report first published by WRAL-TV.