Victim of bear attack identified, caution urged |
| September 16, 2011 |
|
The Lincoln County, Montana, Sheriff's Office
has identified the person killed in this
morning's grizzly bear attack as Steve
Stevenson, 39, Winnemucca, Nevada. Stevenson and Ty Bell, 20, had split off from a party of four and encountered a bear they allegedly misidentified as a black bear, and Bell, investigators say, shot and wounded the bear, which turned out to be a young boar grizzly. They tracked the wounded bear into an area of heavy cover, where the bear turned and attacked Stevenson. Bell allegedly fired several shots while the attack was underway, killing the bear. Stevensons body was flown to the Montana Crime Lab for autopsy and the carcass of the bear was flown to Bozeman for necropsy. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, there have been multiple reports of additional grizzly bears in the area, and hunters and huckleberry pickers are advised to use caution. |