Man Shoots Bear in his Backyard only to be Mauled by a Series of Charges from Police

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In Auburn, bears are rare, if not entirely unknown. When Richard P. Ahlstrand, 76, was stocking his 50-gallom drum of birdseed and heard what he suspected was a bear, he went inside and grabbed his shotgun. When he returned the bear not only appeared, but reared up, and seemed to him intent on mauling him. Naturally enough, Ahlstrand did his best to shoot the bear – he didn’t have time to aim – and managed to strike it dead with one shot. By the time police arrived, he had a bit of a swagger, as well as his breath back, when he said he was a hero because he saved his neighborhood.

Not so, say police.

“He went back inside, retrieved a shotgun and decided to shoot the bear,” Chief Sluckis said, highlighting that it was in fact a decision, the sorts of things people make with full knowledge when they do something wrong. “Obviously we believe if Mr. Ahlstrand was truly in fear for his life he would have stayed secured in his home and would have called the police.”

  

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Obviously, in other words, if you want to save your neighborhood, you’re more akin to a murderer of some sort. At least that’s how Ahlstrand feels now that the police are leveling a slew of charges against him, such as “illegally killing a bear, illegally baiting a bear, illegal possession of a firearm and failure to secure a firearm.” Baiting? Yeah, that’s what it’s called when you fill a birdfeeder in an area not known to have bears. And the logic of the law seems to be that fear, true fear, looks rather cowardly after all, curling up and calling the police.

“They got me set up now like I’m some kind of murderer. And then the environmental guy told me ‘You should have called me instead of shooting it.’ What was I going to so, say ‘Mister Bear would excuse me please while I go make a phone call?’”

A seven foot tall 300-400 pound bear might not be truly all that terrifying after all for those interested in baiting them with birdseed and shooting them in cold blood. If so, the police know their man. “I didn’t have time to aim through the sights,” Ahlstrand said, “but I aimed in the direction of the head on this thing and I pulled the trigger before it got to me. It just dropped.” Harrowing or not, it’s just a bear, and though they maul human beings often enough, don’t let that fool you: they are as soft as honey.