George Barnett’s work as a small-town pastor means folks probably won’t challenge him when he tells of the day he picked up a hunting rifle and took aim at an escaped rhesus monkey in rural Mississippi.

What started as a routine visit to his mom’s house in Vossburg on Monday is now the latest chapter in the not-so-tall tale that captivated much of the state, after a transport of research primates overturned in Jasper County just before Halloween.

Barnett’s wife spotted the runaway monkey as a blur of fur crossing near a highway exit ramp late Monday afternoon. Once in the woods, it scampered into a tree and flashed its teeth. Barnett, 45, grabbed his rifle and fired twice, he said, sending the animal crashing to the ground.

Jasper County Sheriff's Department

“As soon as I saw it, the

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