Anchorage, Alaska

From the Anchorage Daily News of June 2, 2006

Homeowner shoots bear inside house

A large black bear broke into an Anchorage home early this morning, rummaged around like a burglar and feasted on a box of chocolates before the homeowner shot him dead with a Glock.

The bear entered the two-story Stuckagain Heights house on the Anchorage hillside around 2:30 a.m., according to police.

Stan Knowlton, who lives next door to the house, said his son and daughter-in-law own the place that was ransacked. They were asleep in their bedroom with their Rottweiller, Baby, when the dog started barking wildly, he said.

The bedroom door was closed. Outside, the couple could hear things being knocked over.

Police spokesman Lt. Paul Honeman said the owners initially thought the bear was a burglar. They could not be reached for comment.

Knowlton said his son quickly determined the real identity of the intruder.

"He opens the (bedroom) door and he's face to face with this big black bear," he said. "He slammed the door right away."

Knowlton said his son hollered at the bear to go away and it ran downstairs. The man grabbed a .40-caliber Glock automatic handgun from another bedroom and looked around. The bear had knocked some things over and eaten a box of chocolates that had been sitting near the couch.

"It left all the heart candy sitting in a basket there," Knowlton said.

Knowlton said the bear started back up the stairs toward his son. He shot the animal multiple times and it went back downstairs.

Knowlton said his son didn't know if the bear was dead. He called police. Honeman said the sergeant who responded quipped that he'd been in many a hairy situation over the years, but few so scary as entering a house where there might be a wounded bear on the loose.

Officers found the bear dead in a bathroom, surrounded by a pool of blood and scat. Knowlton said state wildlife officials came and picked up the carcass. It took four people to load it into the truck, he said.