Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Bear Spotted in North Park Tranquilized, Moved to Indiana County

Bear wanders to Hampton Township before tranquilizer takes full effect.

UPDATE: The black bear was tagged Monday night in Wexford, and then driven to state gamelands in Indiana County where it was released Tuesday morning.

Earlier story:

A 245-pound black bear spotted in North Park on Monday night was captured in Hampton Township, according to a report from WPXI.

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McCandless police were called to the park about 6 p.m. along with Pennsylvania Game Commission officers and started chasing the bear near South Ridge Road, WPXI reported.

The bear was spotted near the North Park pool and playing fields, where a number of people were outside, according to WPXI.

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Film footage showed McCandless, Hampton and game commission officers loading the bear into the back of a truck.

A game commission officer tranquilized the bear and it will be moved to a safer area for bears, according to a 911 shift supervisor. Law enforcement officials had to search the woods for about an hour after it was tranquilized, WPXI reported.

Hampton homeowner Kim Anderson saw the bear in her back yard off South Pioneer and thought it was asleep, she told WPXI. She said she did not realize the bear was tranquilized.

People who saw the bear also turned to Twitter to post comments and photos.

Tim Webb tweeted a bear photo with this note: "this was at the presidential arms apartments in north park today. That's a big bear for north park.

Another Twitter user, Amin Afrazi, tweeted: "Bear on the loose during my workout at north park. Cops swarm in. Great chance to see the new M4 mcandless cops were issued."

Alexa Kinslow tweeted: "watch out for the huge bear in north park guys, he looked hungry."

Maureen Miller tweeted: "Bear spotted at North Park" along with a photo of a McCandless police car. 

Click here to see Right Now I/O Feed's photo of the officers in Hampton Township.

KDKA reported that the bear interrupted a Cub Scout meeting in North Park.

“I was worried my dad was going to get eaten by the bear,” Aaron Especto told KDKA.

Scout leaders heard rustling in the woods, but didn’t realize what was causing it until police showed up. 

Scout leader Ed Especto told KDKA: “All of a sudden, an officer comes by on a bike, screaming, 'Everybody get out of the way! Somebody saw a bear. It was walking on a pathway right down here.'” 

Next, the bear was spotted off Willow Oak Drive in Allison Park. 

Katie Cyphers was on her back porch when the bear came out of  the woods and into her back yard.

“I ran and got my iPod for a picture ... it was huge,” she told KDKA.

If you saw the bear or the commotion, please tell us about it in the comments. Photos may be uploaded too. Thanks!


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