Haines Police were criticized when a garbage bear shot at the Haines School Oct. 25 escaped into nearby woods, but police department chief Gary Lowe last week said the officer involved followed department procedures and was using the right weapon.
“When you’re in town, at a distance of 50 yards or less, a 12-gauge shotgun with slugs is the appropriate weapon. It will drop a bear… That’s what a majority of police departments carry for bears, a 12-gauge shotgun with slugs.”
Lowe said the incident offered the “perfect opportunity” to put down the bruin, which had become a chronic problem. “It wasn’t dark. It was in a well-lit parking lot with no one around it. It was two o’clock in the morning.”
Lowe said the department doesn’t always have the luxury of having two officers on at the same time to handle such incidents. “In best-case circumstances, we do have two officers on (in early evening). If we have two officers on and the bear is in the area, sure, that’s preferable” for increasing the likelihood of a kill.
Two officers on the force have specialized training to carry and shoot high-powered rifles but the officer on call was certified only to shoot the shotgun and his service .45, Lowe said. “I would think even if it had been one of the officers (certified to shoot a high-powered rifle), in that circumstance, I think anyone would have used the shotgun with the slug. At that distance, that’s the appropriate weapon.”
Lowe said he believed the officer had a good line of sight for the shot. “We don’t always get to choose the circumstances (but) the circumstances were there. If he’s not within 20 yards of that bear, he’s not going to take that shot.” Lowe said he didn’t believe a back-up officer is necessary for instances like the shooting.
He also said he didn’t think it was unusual for shot bears to scurry into the brush. “That bear every night was in the garbage cans and it never showed up again. It ran into the woods and found the deepest, darkest hole it could, and died.”
Lowe said the shooting was necessary because the bear had been returning to the school. “We had to make sure that bear didn’t return to that area.”
Shooting a bear is the last resort for the department after other measures, including sirens, noisemaker slugs and rubber slugs have been used to shoo it off, Lowe said, adding the department may also look into Taser slugs. “The last thing we want to do is kill a bear.”
Wildlife trooper Rick Merritt said he would also use a shotgun against a bear at short range. “That weapon is fully capable of killing a bear. It really comes down to your shot placement.” A slug hitting a shoulder or bear’s hump may not finish off the animal, Merritt said.