Pictures shared on social media show a dead duck covered in blood on the King’s Weald estate in Burgess Hill.
Emma Smillie, who lives in the area, came across the dead animal when walking her dog.
She said: “I was just walking and came across this dead duck.
“There were little metal pellets around it and there have been a lot of kids in the area using slingshots, so it looks like that’s what they used, and then it looked like they killed it with a rock.”
“It’s really sad. When I came across that I just thought it’s such pointless aggression towards something that would never hurt you.
“The ducks have been coming and going from the pond as long as I’ve been walking my dog there and it’s a really family-orientated area, it’s safe.
“If that was my child I would be absolutely ashamed. Everyone in the area is very upset about it.”
Emma, 32, also reported that teenagers have been seen using slingshots around Burgess Hill, shooting at windows and people’s dogs.
Another poster said she witnessed two teenagers between the ages of 13-15 kill the duck with a rock before riding off on bikes.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Police received a report of a duck having been killed in Wyvern Way, Burgess Hill, at around 9pm on Monday, June 3.
“An investigation is ongoing to establish the full circumstances and identify any suspects.
“Anyone who has any information that could help, or saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area at that time, is asked to contact police online or via 101, quoting serial 1263 of 04/06.”
A fox in Hailsham was also shot in the face with an air rifle and died a few weeks later with an infection.
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