10-year-old boy attacked by bear in Morris, bear euthanized

By Olivia Kalentek and Eliza Kruczynski

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    MORRIS, Connecticut (WFSB) — State police say a bear attacked a 10-year-old in Morris on Sunday.

A DEEP spokesperson said the boy was attacked by a black bear around 11:00 a.m.

The boy was taken to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

DEEP said the bear was a 250 lbs. male and was not tagged.

A neighbor says he saw the bear just before it attacked the 10-year-old boy. He started making noise to scare the bear off, but the bear kept coming closer.

“He just walked up to me and my wife like we weren’t even there,” says neighbor Jonathan Digmas.

The bear walked over to Digmas’ neighbor’s house where a grandfather was spending time outside with his grandson.

“That’s when I heard him screaming help, help, help. And I heard the 10-year-old boy scream bear, bear bear. Once I heard that, I ran as fast as I could,” says Digmas.

The grandfather used a crowbar to get the bear away from his grandson, but the bear did not leave. That’s when Digmas showed up.

“I grabbed the steel pipe that I found on the ground right over on my neighbor’s fence and hit the pipe on the ground” says Digmas.

While he was trying to distract the bear, the grandfather who is in a wheelchair, worked to get his injured grandson inside.

“He had puncture wounds on his foot, he was bleeding from his foot and his back had scratches all over from the bear. He also got bit on the back of the leg,” says Digmas.

The bear was still near the scene and was euthanized by Encon Police.

The bear is being checked for rabies and any other underlying medical conditions.

“Our bear population is growing. A lot of our bears are continuing to become increasingly food conditioned and habituated. Much more used to people, a lot less likely to run away when they see people. That can become a very concerning situation,” said Jenny Dickson, DEEP.

Here are some things to do if you encounter a bear:

1. Make a lot of noise

2. Don’t run away from it

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