PANAMA CITY BEACH — A man allegedly broke into ZooWorld on Tuesday afternoon and assaulted employees, patrons and law enforcement officers.

According to the Bay County Sheriff's Office, officers responded to a 911 call at the zoo to find a man, later identified as Michael Jerome Brown of Monroeville, Alabama, "acting erratically."

"He had already assaulted two patrons and three employees, and the employees were keeping other patrons away from him while waiting for deputies," BCSO officials reported. "Brown was screaming threats to anyone around him."

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BCSO also noted that ZooWorld employees said Brown broke into the facility. He did not injure any animals or attempt to enter the animals' enclosures.

After Brown assaulted the employees, they "retreated from him" to keep patrons away, including "a bus load of children," BCSO said.

"Deputies engaged Brown and he fought two of them, threatening to hurt others as well as making unintelligible sounds," according to BCSO. "Brown’s actions were aggressive and unpredictable, and deputies felt the employees at ZooWorld did a remarkable job keeping other patrons safe until deputies arrived."

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