Two pre-teen boys sustained minor injuries when they were attacked by a bear at their campsite at Stokes State Forest Wednesday morning, according to state police.
A New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife officer who arrived on scene shot the bear in the neck, but it is unclear if the bear was killed.
Vin Meeks of the Montague-based youth organization Trail Blazers told investigating officers that a black bear entered the campsite while the campers were sleeping Wednesday morning. The bear first went to a tent and grabbed onto a child’s foot in an attempt to pull him out of the tent. This effort proved unsuccessful, and the boy sustained a minor injury to his left foot. The bear then went to a second tent and collapsed it. After the tent collapsed, the bear swiped at a second boy, causing a minor injury to the boy’s right shoulder. This pair of incidents lasted about 15 minutes, police said.
The boys, one 12 from Jersey City and one age 11 from Brooklyn, N.Y., sustained superficial wounds, police said.
The bear left the scene but returned again and continued “tearing through the camp.”
Before officers arrived, Meeks gathered all the children and took them into a half-enclosed cabin. The campers made as much noise as they could in an attempt to scare the bear away.
When Officer Joe Burke from the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife arrived, the bear was still on scene and didn’t seem to be affected by his presence. Burke shot the bear in the neck.
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