Deputy Kills Bear That Attacked Dog

A Ventura County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a 300-pound bear Friday after it attacked a dog and then charged the deputy.

The deputy, whose name was withheld, broke his left hand when he slipped and fell running away from the bear, Sgt. Mike Johnson said.

He and other deputies had surrounded the bear after a California Department of Fish and Game official shot it once in the mouth, according to Johnson.

The deputy, despite his injury, got up and fired a second and fatal shot at the bear, Johnson said.

The animal wandered out of Los Padres National Forest about 6:15 a.m. and attacked the dog in a residential area of Mesa Drive and Padre Juan Street, he said.

Authorities were on the scene about four hours before the bear was finally killed, Johnson said.

“The dog managed to flee the scene,” he said.

Because of the potential danger to residents of this populated area, the fish and game official was acting within his agency’s regulations when he fired the first shot in an attempt to kill the bear, Johnson said.