Police Announce They ARE Investigating Parents Of Three-Year-Old Boy Who Fell Into Zoo's Gorilla Enclosure

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Police have launched an investigation into the parents of the three-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure, prompting zookeepers to kill the 450lb animal who grabbed him.

The Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutors office said the Cincinnati Police Department will look into the deadly shooting of the beloved 15-year-old Harambe to see if they will seek criminal charges against Michelle Gregg and Deonne Dickerson.

Their son Isiah managed to crawl past railings at the gorilla's enclosure and fell 15ft into the moat below.

Harambe grabbed the boy and dragged him through the water, prompting zoo staff to shoot the endangered animal dead.

The incident has since prompted an angry campaign calling for the parents to be prosecuted.

Reports suggest police will be looking into the mother and father's actions and not the zoo's operations.

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Cincinnati Police Department spokeswoman Tiffaney Hardy told The New York Post: 'The investigation is regarding the action of parents and family that led up to the incident and is not related to zoo operations.

'We're looking into the incidents that led up to the incident.'

Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters said in a statement: 'The incident at the Cincinnati Zoo involving the young child who fell into the gorilla enclosure is under investigation by the Cincinnati Police Department.

'Once their investigation is concluded, they will confer with our office on possible criminal charges. When the investigation and review are complete, we will update the media.'

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Isiah Dickerson was with his mother Michelle Gregg at Cincinnati Zoo, Ohio, when he somehow made his way through a barrier, into a moat - and was lifted up by Harambe.

Within minutes the 17-year-old 450lb silverback was killed by zookeepers who feared for Isiah's safety.

Isiah is recovering from minor injuries and his mother has not been seen at the Cincinnati home where she lives.

His father, Deonne Dickerson, 36, has also not been seen since the killing of the gorilla. He was not with his partner and their four children at the time.

Soon after the incident, Michelle Gregg, 32, posted a message on Facebook saying: 'I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today. What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one.

'For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him.

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'My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes... no broken bones or internal injuries.

'As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today.'

The family released a statement on Sunday saying they had taken their boy home from the hospital.

It read: 'We are so thankful to the Lord that our child is safe. He is home and doing just fine. We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff.

'We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla. We hope that you will respect our privacy at this time.'

The family have been subject to death threats. They are not facing a police investigation.

The zoo, however, is and is also now the subject of a complaint to the United States Department of Agriculture, which regulates safety for animals and visitors.

The boy's father has a significant criminal history, with offenses including burglary, firearms offences, drug trafficking, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and kidnap.

In 2006 he was sentenced to one year behind bars for a drug trafficking conviction.

But in numerous pictures posted on Dickerson's Facebook site in recent years he appears to have turned his life around to become the proud father of four.

Indeed, the majority of his postings to the social media site are updates of his children and his working life.

In others pictures he has uploaded his friends post congratulate him and Michelle on the birth of their fourth child last January.

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Cleveland-based Dickerson is from Atlanta, Georgia studied at Cuyahoga Community College, Ohio and now works as a sorter at a Cincinnati industrial equipment supplier.

Gregg is currently the administrator at a Cincinnati pre-school.

She has been the subject of sharp criticism following the incident that saw zoo staff shoot dead Harambe who, according to new video footage, may have been protecting rather than threatening the child after he crawled through a barrier and fell into the gorilla's enclosure.

Many social media commenters have criticized the boy's parents and said they should be held accountable. A Cincinnati police spokesman said no charges were being considered. A spokeswoman for the family said Monday they had no plans to comment.

'I do think there's a degree of responsibility they have to be held to,' said Kate Villanueva, a mother of two children from Erlanger, Kentucky, who started the 'Justice for Harambe' page and attended Monday's vigil. 'You have to be watching your children at all times.'

More outraged animal lovers took to social media declaring the western lowland gorilla's life was unnecessarily taken, and more than 4,000 have already joined the 'Justice for Harambe'.

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Ian Redmond, the chairman of the Gorilla Organization, told CNN : 'When gorilla or other apes have things they shouldn't have, keepers will negotiate with them, bring food, their favorite treats, pineapple or some kind of fruit that they don't know and negotiate with them.'

Primatologist Julia Gallucci said: 'The gorilla enclosure should have been surrounded by a secondary barrier between the humans and the animals to prevent exactly this type of incident.'

Others are placing the blame squarely on the boy's parents.

More than 115,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for the mother and father to be 'held accountable for their actions of not supervising their child'.

One Twitter user wrote: 'So a beautiful, innocent gorilla has to die because neglectful parents can't control their kids? Mankind sucks :( #Harambe #CincinnatiZoo'

Another user Chris Dasauchoit tweeted: 'Beautiful animals sadly paying for utter human stupidity and negligence with their lives. #Harame #CincinnatiZoo.'

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Zoo director Maynard noted it was the first time the team had killed a zoo animal in such an emergency situation, and he called it 'a very sad day'.

He said said in a statement: 'The Zoo security team's quick response saved the child's life.

'We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla. This is a huge loss for the Zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide.'

Jerry Stones, who worked at the Gladys Porter Zoo, in Bronwsville, Texas, where Harambe lived before he was transferred in 2014, said he was devastated by the news.

Stones, who raised the gorilla, told the NY Daily News: 'It tore me a new one. An old man can cry, too. He was a special guy in my life. It's a sad day for us.'

He added: 'He grew up to be a pretty, beautiful male. He was very intelligent. His mind was going constantly. He was just such a sharp character.'

Western lowland gorillas are deemed critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund, but Maynard said Harambe's death would not be the end of his lineage, since viable sperm was stored at the zoo.

Gorilla World has been closed since the incident on Saturday, although Maynard said it was expected to reopen by next weekend. The rest of the zoo has been open as usual.

In March, two curious polar bears at the zoo wandered into a behind-the-scenes service hallway through an open den door, but never left a secondary containment area.

The zoo said the 17-year-old female Berit and the 26-year-old male Little One, entered an 'inappropriate' area but remained contained and were never loose or a threat to the public.

During that incident, zoo officials said staff followed protocols and safely returned the bears to their main holding area within two hours.