Stunned Pennsylvania cop forced to shoot 15ft pet SNAKE in the head after it strangled its owner

Police officers in Pennsylvania were forced to shoot a man’s 15-foot pet snake in the head after it wrapped itself around his throat and gave him a heart attack.

Cops were called after the reptile violently attacked its owner, 28, in Fogelsville, southeastern Pennsylvania Wednesday afternoon.

Paramedics, firefighters and police arrived at 2.12pm after a chilling dispatch simply stated: ’28-year-old male with a snake wrapped around his neck.’

Responders could scarcely believe what they saw, according to Upper Macungie Township lieutenant Peter Nickischer.

He said: ‘I heard part of that dispatch go out, and I had actually reached out to the chief and said: “What was that dispatch?”

‘I think one of the officers described it as a scene from a horror movie and that’s probably the most appropriate way to describe it’, he told 6ABC.

At first cops tried to cut the snake off the man’s neck with a knife. But struggling to do so – and running out of time – an officer stepped back and shot it through the head.

Lieutenant Nickischer added: ‘Quite literally, the officer looked into the room and the snake was looking up at him. I mean, it was a face-to-face… The officer just did what he had to do.

‘It was a very dire situation for this person.

‘They had to be very careful as far as protecting themselves. Getting too close, you know, trying to go hands-on with this reptile, was not a smart decision.’

The man’s home in Upper Macungie Township, PA, where the snake violently attacked him

Another of the 28-year-old’s snakes is pictured slithering around near the upstairs window

He explained that the snake’s midriff was coiled tightly around the man’s throat. But its head was just far enough away that it could be shot without threat to the owner.

After it died on impact with a single shot, responders dragged the snake away from the man and paramedics began conducting CPR.

Lt Nickischer added: ‘At that point the snake started to slither away but, as you can imagine, it’s a very large snake, so it’s still spread out into the hallway of this home.’

The man is now recovering in hospital, though his current condition is unknown. 

He also owns numerous other snakes, neighbors confirmed. One was filmed slithering around by an upstairs window.

It is unclear why the 15ft reptile turned on him.

The terrifying incident comes after a python nursery raid saw searchers find two 17ft-long females, 23 eggs and dozens of hatchlings on a Florida nature reserve.

The snakes came to Florida as pets, but owners discarded them into the wild, where they began to multiply and grow to great lengths.