The attack of travis, the chimpanzee. On February 16, 2009, at around 3:40 p.m., Travis attacked Sandra Herold's then 55-year-old friend, Charla Nash, inflicting devastating injuries to her face and limbs. Travis had left the house with Sandra Herold's car keys, and Nash came to help get the chimp back in the house; upon seeing Nash holding a Tickle Me Elmo, one of his favorite toys, Travis flew into a rage and attacked her. Travis was familiar with Nash, who had also worked at the Herolds' towing company, although Nash had a different hairstyle and was driving a different car at the time of the attack, which may have also confused and alarmed him. He was being given medication for Lyme disease. Herold attempted to stop Travis by hitting him on the head with a shovel and stabbing him in the back with a butcher knife.

Herold later said, "For me to do something like that, put a knife in him, was like putting one in myself." The chimp turned around, she said, as if to say, "'Mom, what did you do?'" The animal grew angrier. Herold, at this point, believing Nash to be dead, then rushed to her car, locked herself inside and called 9-1-1. Travis' screams can be heard in the background at the start of the tape as Herold pleads for the police, who initially believed the call to be a hoax until she said, "He's eating her!" Emergency medical services waited for police before approaching the house. When they arrived, Travis headed towards the police car, tried to open a locked passenger door, and smashed a side-view mirror. Then he went around to the driver's-side door and opened it, at which point Officer Frank Chiafari shot him four times with his service pistol. Travis retreated to the house, where he was found dead next to his cage. #travis #travisthechimp #2009