A bear spotted roaming residential properties in west Saint John earlier this week was shot and killed by police.
The Saint John Police Force said officers were notified on Monday at approximately 8:30 p.m. and responded to reports of a bear roaming through the front and back of residential properties in the area of Amy Crescent.
When police arrived, they found many pedestrians, including children, playing outside in the neighbourhood.
Officers located the bear on someone’s property and attempted to scare it back into the woods, however, it was undeterred.
The bear began to advance on the officers.
“Once the bear was approximately 10 feet away and still advancing, the officers had no choice but to put the bear down,” reads a release from the police force.
“This was not how anyone involved wanted to resolve the issue, but it was a time-sensitive decision made in the interest of public safety due to the bear’s behaviour in a populated neighborhood where children and families were outside on their properties and the street,” added the release.
The province’s Department of Natural Resources was notified, and police reported that no one was hurt.
Saint John police cannot confirm if it was the same bear that was spotted at the Children’s Forest Park on Sand Cove Road.
