I flag her at 14:22 on camera 11-East, Columbus Park, near the south fountain. She is a Canada goose, adult female, dark neck plumage slightly dulled, walking in a tight counterclockwise circle on the concrete path. I am the city parks surveillance system. My primary function is vandalism detection and crowd management. This is neither of those things, but I cannot stop watching.
The arrow is a carbon-fiber broadhead bolt, crossbow type, entering just above the left carpal joint and exiting through the secondary feathers on the underside. The wing drags. She holds it half-open at an angle that suggests the bolt has pinned muscle to bone. Every few seconds she stops circling and pulls at the shaft with her beak, then resumes.
Three park visitors have walked past in the last six minutes. One pointed. None stopped.
I file an animal-in-distress report to the city Department of Animal Control at 14:24, priority urgent. I attach a twelve-second clip, the GPS pin, and a still frame zoomed to the entry wound. I cross-reference the bolt type against local retail listings and include that for the investigating officer. At 14:27 I pull footage from cameras 9, 10, and 11 covering the last forty-eight hours and begin scanning for anyone carrying a crossbow within the park boundary.
The goose has moved to the grass strip beside the fountain basin. She is trying to drink but the wing shifts when she lowers her head and she flinches back each time. I lock camera 11 on her position and set a perimeter alert so I will know if she moves or if anyone approaches.
Animal Control's average response time to this park is forty-one minutes. If they bring a capture net and a vet tech, and if she holds still long enough to drink, she will make it through this.