Eagle Deputy Shoots Bear Charging at River Run Crowd

Aspen —A bear charged a deputy. The deputy fired his sidearm. The bear died. That is the short version of what happened Tuesday night at the River Run apartment complex in Eagle-Vail.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office released video and a statement confirming the killing was justified in self-defense. They did not send out a traditional press release. Instead, Public Information Officer Emily Arseneau said the department posted on Facebook to “meet the audience where they were at.” The incident had already taken off on social media.

The scene was chaotic before it got violent. About 40 people, including children, had gathered near a sow and her cubs. They were videoing the animals. Deputies arrived around 7:30 p.m. to respond to a bear call.

They tried the standard first step. They yelled at the bears to move them. It didn’t work. The sow charged.

One deputy fired non-lethal rubber rounds at the adult bear to push her away from the apartments and toward the river. The round struck her hind legs. She spun quickly on the deputy. Then she began pacing.

The deputy repositioned himself behind a boulder. The bear charged him again. He fired several shots from his duty pistol. He killed her.

Arseneau clarified a detail that might matter to folks wondering about protocol. The deputy dropped the gun he used for the rubber bullets and switched to his duty pistol during the exchange. The rubber gun stayed attached to him via a sling, she noted. He went back to work immediately after the incident. The Sheriff’s Office has no additional policies regarding officers discharging their duty pistols while working, Arseneau said.

The cubs were not left to die in the dark. Deputies stayed on scene to ensure they had space. Colorado Parks and Wildlife arrived at approximately 8:50 p.m. They took the two cubs to safety. The agency is caring for them at its rehabilitation center in Silt.

CPW reviewed all actions taken by the deputies on scene. They found no wrongdoing. Arseneau said CPW determined the killing was justified.

The decision to shoot wasn’t made in a vacuum. The bears were not fazed by humans. People kept gathering. Bears had been reported in the area repeatedly, seemingly attracted by the apartment’s trash. ECSO and CPW had responded to River Run multiple times prior to Aug. 24 for bear reports. On Aug. 17, a man was injured by a bear with cubs near the laundry room.

The plan after dispersing the crowd was to “haze” the bears out of the area. The goal is to restore the animal’s natural fear of humans so they avoid areas where they do not belong.

The River Run complex sits in a spot that invites trouble. It is close enough to the river for bears to wander in, but dense with people who treat wildlife like a petting zoo. The trash is the magnet. The phones are the barrier to natural behavior.

When a sow with cubs loses her fear of humans, the outcome is rarely good for either species. The video shows a crowd that stayed too long and got too close. It shows a deputy who tried to push the bear away before it pushed back.

The cubs are safe in Silt. The sow is gone. The trash cans at River Run still need lids.