Editor's Note: this story was updated to change the date the mountain lion was spotted from Sunday to Wednesday after the Game and Parks Commission sent a corrected news release.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — A sheriff’s deputy in Scotts Bluff County killed a mountain lion on Wednesday night.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the mountain lion was spotted twice on Wednesday in the Scotts Bluff Country Club subdivision. A news release says the deputy shot and killed it because the animal was an immediate threat to the public.

According to Nebraska Game and Parks carnivore and furbearer program manager Sam Wilson, the mountain lion was a 1 1/2-year-old male. It was ear-tagged as part of the state’s research efforts. Wilson says young males often leave their mothers to find their own territory at that age.

The release says the mountain lion was part of the Wildcat Hills population, one of three established populations in Nebraska.