A number of residents west of Edmonton are fearful, and RCMP are investigating after five cattle and a horse were shot overnight.

Wade Thordarson described what he found, after noticing his cattle behaving strangely Wednesday morning – he said a purebred Angus cow and a calf had been shot and killed.

"They shot [the female] in the temple, and in the calf, they shot the calf right in the eyeball," Thordarson said.

The two animals belonged to his 13-year-old daughter.

"If these had been my cattle I would've been mad," Thordarson said. "It wouldn't be as bad as my daughter's.

"I don't think I've ever been that mad in my life."

His daughter had owned the cattle for a year as part of a 4H project; she was there when the calf, named Flora, was born.

Thordarson said his daughter is upset at the sudden loss.

"[Kassidy] halter trains them, and she grooms them, and washes them and clips them," He said. "She gets them ready for cattle shows that she takes them to.

"She spends more time with them than her dog and cat."

He later found out a purebred Angus of his was also shot and killed on his back pasture, near the road.

Meanwhile, on a nearby property, Sarah Dodd is looking after her eight-year-old horse named Toffee, who was also shot once in the head and twice in the legs, but survived, and is under the care of a veterinarian.

Dodd has raised Toffee since he was three days old.

"You wonder why," Dodd said. "What people are thinking that they would hurt a horse?"

Stony Plain RCMP Livestock Section is investigating, and said investigators believe the same person or people are behind the shootings.

"We're going to be working, trying to extract the bullet if possible from the carcasses of the animals, and use that as evidence to help us determine what type of firearm and so forth," Insp. Gary Graham said Wednesday.

RCMP also confirmed a third shooting incident involving cattle occurred on the same night, and officers have notified residents.

Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to contact Stony Plain RCMP at 780-968-7267.

With files from Amanda Anderson