A Mississippi mother fatally shot a monkey to protect her children after the "aggressive" animals escaped from an overturned truck, according to multiple reports.

Police said a truck transporting 21 rhesus monkeys from Tulane University's National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans overturned on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg, Mississippi — approximately 85 miles southeast of the state capital of Jackson.

'I hate that it happened, but I'm going to protect my kids at all costs.'

On Oct. 28, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement , "A truck hauling monkeys from Tulane University has overturned around the 117-mile marker, north of Heidelberg. It has been reported that several monkeys are on the loose."

Police stressed, "Do not approach the monkeys if you see

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