Bear mauls 10-year-old in grandparents’ Connecticut backyard

MORRIS, Conn.

Authorities say a 250-pound black bear mauled a 10-year-old boy playing in his grandparents’ backyard in Connecticut and tried to drag him away before the animal was fatally shot by police. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says the child was attacked about 11 a.m. Sunday in the town of Morris. The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening. Officers from the state police and DEEP’s environmental conservation force responded and shot the bear. The boy’s grandfather told the Republican-American of Waterbury that his grandson was playing near a trampoline when the bear emerged from thick woods and attacked.