State wildlife officials declared on Monday that the otter which attacked an eight-year-old boy and his grandmother swimming in a Washington state river in July has been killed on Sunday afternoon.

Said otter was shot with a .22-caliber gun with a silencer during a pursuit with federal officials in Pilchuck River around 30 miles from Seattle where the attack occurred, according to reports from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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Authorities believe that the otter that was killed was the same as the one that attacked the swimmers in July as it displayed an unusually aggressive behavior towards humans.

The eight-year-old boy, Bryce Moser, and his grandmother, Lelani Grove have both been released from the hospital after receiving several stitches for the otter bites.

During the encounter, the boy and his granny were swimming in the shallow parts of the river when the otter suddenly jumped on him.

Bryce's great-uncle, Dean Springer, described how the animal wrapped itself around the boy and was holding him down.

Grove sprang into action by prying the otter from the six-year-old boy, provoking the otter to attack her as well. Other adults nearby immediately came to their aid.

According to wildlife experts, a typical otter would not attempt to attack humans and would most likely hide to avoid them instead.

During the hunt for the aggressive otter, police officers consulted otter specialists and has focused their search for female otters as they have more reasons to display such reactions with humans especially when it is a mother protecting her pup from possible danger.

However, the otter that was killed was identified to be male and was remarkably large at four feet in length.

Experts are conducting a necropsy to find out if the otter contracted a disease that led it to react violently.

They are looking into rabies although otters past records indicate that the disease is not commonly seen in such creatures.

Tagsotter, Seattle, attack