A woman who visits the San Francisco Zoo every Christmas said she saw 4 boys standing at the big cat grotto. Three of the boys were apparently heckling, and teasing the tiger that later escaped its enclosure killing 1 of the young men and seriously wounding the other two.

Jennifer Miller who was at the zoo with her husband says she noticed the boys, because everyone else their that day were families.

“The boys, especially the older one, were roaring at them. He was taunting them,” the San Francisco woman said. “They were trying to get that lion’s attention. … The lion was bristling, so I just said, ‘Come on, let’s get out of here’ because my kids were disturbed by it.”

The two surviving victims have hired high powered Attorney Mark Geragos, who is undoubtedly looking for a huge cash settlement from the zoo.

Geragos came out swinging at the allegation that his clients did anything to provoke the tiger. He says the zoo is mounting a smear campaign for their “blame the victim” defense.

A huge payday for the surviving victims is almost a foregone conclusion since the zoo has already admitted that the wall to the tiger enclosure was several feet shorter than regulation.

-Samantha Giles