Connecticut State Police were investigating the shooting and death of a 450-pound adult male bear Monday morning and the gunman’s claim that it was in self-defense.
The bear was killed after “reportedly feeding in an unlocked dump” in Canton, a city of about 10,000 people about 13 miles northwest of Hartford, said Paul Coppleman, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. DEEP Environmental Protection Police officers are investigating.
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The shooting came a year after the Connecticut Legislature passed a bill explicitly authorizing the use of lethal force to kill a bear if the state reasonably believes the bear is causing or attempting to cause great bodily harm to a person or pet, or is attempting to enter an occupied building.
This is a photo of an American black bear. (iStock)
Some state lawmakers, concerned about increased human-bear interactions in Connecticut, had hoped the bill would go further and include restrictions on bear hunting and the unintentional feeding of hungry animals.
Koppleman said conservation police are investigating whether this is the first time someone has claimed self-defense when killing a bear since the law went into effect.
Bears have been spotted throughout Connecticut in recent years. In 2023, bear sightings were reported in 165 of the state’s 169 cities and towns.
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There were more than 200 bear sightings in Canton last year. On Monday evening, during WFSB-TV’s live newscast about the shooting, another black bear was seen checking out the same row of trash cans before returning to the woods.
