Police shoot bear who strays far from home
Fri, May 16, 2008
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BATTLE CREEK (AP) Battle Creek police killed a black bear this morning.
State officials believe the bear wandered out of the wilds and well beyond its usual comfort zone.
The Battle Creek Enquirer reported that Officer Troy Gilleylen was looking for the victim of a domestic assault early today when he shined his patrol car spotlight down a street and saw the bear. He tried to get a closer look, but the bear ran away.
Police said they shot the animal four times, but it kept disappearing. They followed drops of blood on the pavement to the wounded bear and killed it.
State Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Jeff Goss said the roughly 250-pound bear will be taken to Lansing for tests. Goss said bears migrate to the southern part of the state, but he believes this is the first to get this far south.