Uproar over shooting of bear in Tahoe home prompts release of details

Outrage over the shooting of a bear inside a South Lake Tahoe vacation house has prompted the sheriff to release more details about the incident.

The bear, severely wounded, fled the house and was euthanized after being found by wildlife officers the following day.

The BEAR League, a Tahoe-area volunteer group that works to prevent conflicts between humans and bears, had called for charges to be filed against the shooter — and claimed that he was a law enforcement officer.

In Tuesday’s statement, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office specifically denied that the shooter is a law enforcement officer.

The BEAR League responded: “We stand 100% behind every word in our post.”

The group said it removed that Facebook post on Monday night because commenters had been speculating on the shooter’s identity. “The individuals named in the comments had nothing to do with this crime. Others jumped on board and were demanding that horrible things happen to whoever shot the bear (we call that terrorism),” said the BEAR League’s follow-up post on Tuesday evening.

It repeated its contention that the incident warranted prosecution. “There is no evidence we have seen that this man was ‘attacked’ or ‘threatened’ by this bear,” the statement said. It also said the group is sure of the man’s identity but will not name him unless he is charged.

The statement from the sheriff’s office, which cited a desire “to be transparent,” gave this account of the June 24 incident:

A man identified as “a private business owner” from outside the Tahoe area returned around 10:30 p.m. to a house he was renting in Meyers. He heard a noise upstairs and got his gun, “which was lawfully possessed and appropriately registered to him.” When he was on the stairs, he encountered the bear, which, the report said, “stood up on its hind legs, and pushed the man to the floor.”

The man fired at the bear, continuing to shoot as the animal “thrashed around in the downstairs area” before fleeing through a door.

The man then called the sheriff’s office, and the case was handed over to officers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. They found the bear the next morning. She was “gravely wounded,” having been shot in the head, and the officers killed her.

“An investigation has determined that no criminal activity had occurred,” the sheriff’s office said.

The BEAR League, citing the wildlife agency’s investigators, had posted a narrative that called the shooting “egregious” and unwarranted.

It said the vacationers had left a door open to the house when they went to dinner and that the bear was in the kitchen when they returned. The armed man “blocked the bear’s only exit route and she wanted out,” their account said.

Of the vacationer, it said: “He was emotionally shaken, obviously. We are very grateful he was physically unharmed.” But in the follow-up post, the group implied he was a “bad officer” and said, “We will not quietly or meekly stand back and allow this.”

Both the sheriff’s office and the BEAR League ended their statements with calls to educate tourists as well as local residents about how to prevent confrontations with bears.