Bull Crushes Rider To Death At Houston Rodeo

HOUSTON, TX — It's a dangerous calling, but bull riders say they have to do it, it's in their blood. It takes a lot of courage to climb atop a raging bull and attempt to hold on, often for dear life. This past Sunday, a man tried to do that very thing, but an accident resulted in his death.

Carlos Rodriguez, a 25-year-old from Mexico, took his chances on a bull at the Monumental Plaza Rodeo, but shortly after the bull he was riding charged from the chute the rider found himself under the animal. Medics pulled him from under the bull, but they were too late.

"It's competing against the animal itself. People get their momentum up inside of them, and they say they know they can do it," Wille Scott, a stable operator at the facility, told KTRK.

A rodeo takes place every Sunday at the plaza, and Scott said he was once as avid a rider as could be. "I rode bulls for a while then left them alone because of an accident like that," he said.

Officials said Rodriguez's family was on their way to Houston to arrange his funeral.

— Image: A man rides a bull at the Monumental Plaza Garibaldi in this undated photo. (Monumental Plaza Garibaldi)