Authorities in Vernon Township, New Jersey, killed a bear this week after it went into a Dollar General twice and injured a 90-year-old woman shopping there.
The Vernon Township Police Department initially responded to the store and got the bear to leave at around 1:39 p.m. Tuesday. The bear, police said in a release, then attacked a dog and chased two employees at a neighboring store just before 4 p.m., before then going back into the Dollar General.
“The bear tackled my dog, but he didn’t even bite my dog — no scratch marks, nothing,” Aaron Glading, the owner of the restaurant next door to the Dollar General, told the New York Times.
Inside the Dollar General, the bear attacked a 90-year-old shopper, causing her minor injuries to one of her legs, police said.
Another shopper ultimately guided the bear out of the Dollar General and into the parking lot, police said.
“I went to the store to get some cleaning supplies, and there was a bear in the store. Getting the bear out of the store seemed like the thing to do,” real estate agent Sean Clarkin, 65, who got the bear out of the store, told the New York Times.
Police officers arrived on the scene, found the bear outside and killed it per New Jersey Fish and Wildlife guidelines regarding bears that attack people.
The bear was a 175-pound female black bear, according to New York City’s WCBS-TV.
The 90-year-old woman, unnamed by police, went to the hospital for her injury, while the dog was taken to the vet. New Jersey wildlife officials are now testing the bear to see if it had rabies, police said.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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