--- description: Authorities released the 911 call placed by the mother of a 3-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo title: Officials Release Mom’s 911 Call After Son Fell Into Gorilla Enclosure image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c29116fb520224b/6988957d0a4a22c2049c9dd4/harambe-gorilla-cincinnati.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Officials Release Mom’s 911 Call After Son Fell Into Gorilla Enclosure  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 1, 2016 8:56 PM CUT  Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo in an undated photo provided by Cincinnati Zoo. Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo in an undated photo provided by Cincinnati Zoo.Cincinnati Zoo/Reuters  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 1, 2016 8:56 PM CUT Authorities on Wednesday released the frantic 911 call placed by the [mother of a 3-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure](http://time.com/4351781/mother-of-toddler-in-cincinnati-gorilla-incident-defends-herself/ "undefined") at the Cincinnati Zoo over the weekend. Michelle Gregg told a police dispatcher a male gorilla was “standing over” her son and began to panic as the animal took hold of the child, according to audio of the phone call recently released by Cincinnati Police. “My son fell in the zoo exhibit at the gorilla—at the Cincinnati zoo. My son fell in with the gorilla. There is a male gorilla standing over him,” she can be heard saying. “He’s dragging my son. I can’t watch this. I can’t watch.” The gorilla, a 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla named Harambe, was shot dead to save the boy who officials said crawled through a barrier and fell into the animal’s exhibit. The mother can also be heard screaming down to the boy to “be calm.” The dispatcher, in the audio, reassures the mother that help is on the way. The gorilla’s death has sparked national outrage, prompting authorities to consider [possible criminal charges](http://time.com/4352627/gorilla-cincinnati-zoo-charges/ "undefined") as the zoo mulls over [changes](http://time.com/4353408/cincinnati-zoo-gorilla-harambe-exhibit/ "undefined") to its gorilla exhibit. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4354330/gorilla-911-call-harambe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4354330/gorilla-911-call-harambe/"},"headline":"Officials Release Mom’s 911 Call After Son Fell Into Gorilla Enclosure","datePublished":"2016-06-01T20:56:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:43:26.250Z","description":"“He’s dragging my son. I can’t watch this\"","url":"https://time.com/4354330/gorilla-911-call-harambe/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c29116fb520224b/6988957d0a4a22c2049c9dd4/harambe-gorilla-cincinnati.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c29116fb520224b/6988957d0a4a22c2049c9dd4/harambe-gorilla-cincinnati.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo","caption":"Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by Cincinnati Zoo. REUTERS/Cincinnati Zoo/Handout via ReutersATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDE","creditText":"Cincinnati Zoo/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4354330/gorilla-911-call-harambe/","name":"Officials Release Mom’s 911 Call After Son Fell Into Gorilla Enclosure"}}]}] ```