BROKEN BOW, Okla. — State wildlife officials are investigating after an American bald eagle was discovered fatally shot last month along a rural road in southeast Oklahoma.
Authorities said the bird was found by a passerby on Dec. 27 near Broken Bow, a small McCurtain County town about 220 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
Game wardens determined the bird had been shot out of a nearby tree and recovered a spent rifle casing at the scene. Officials are asking anyone with information about the shooting to come forward.
Bald eagles are federally protected, and a conviction for killing one carries up to a year in prison and a fine.
Broken Bow is near Beavers Bend Resort Park, a state park near the Arkansas border that's home to bald eagles and black bears.