To see Part One, click here

Part Two

Last week we reported being dispatched to a steep, heavily wooded area where a two-year-old 75-100 pound bear had been shot. A California Department of Fish and Wildlife officer, a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement officer, three Kern County Sheriff’s deputies, and the residents of the nearest home, John and Diane Croxton, also appeared below the scene. Putting the pieces together about what had actually happened there took several days, plus interviews with about 15 people.

By Patric Hedlund

Over the past week, a firestorm of anger has been expressed about the shooting of a two-year-old black bear in the woods on a mountainside high above a Pine Mountain neighborhood.

“It kept coming toward us, following us,” U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer Brian St. Clair said shortly after the event. He was obviously shaken. He said the bear was 10 feet away when it was shot by…

Photo captions:

Brandon, 11 and Diane Croxton examine photo of bear with this reporter, showing bullet wound in its front neck-chest area—not its back as John Croxton first claimed.

The Croxton home is at the top of Linden Drive, surrounded by woods. As many as seven bears have been seen congregating together in the yard according to multiple witnesses, including law enforcement officers, construction workers who…

Letters to the Editor on this subject, part one

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This is part of the September 19, 2014 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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