A Garrett County man was charged Tuesday after he shot a female bear and left her cubs for dead, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police.
Police said 53-year-old David Stephen Wall of Oakland was charged with hunting black bear out of season and could be fined up to $1,500 if found guilty.
Wall had been previously warned by the Black Bear Response Team to take down bird feeders in his back yard that were attracting bears. On Monday night, he shot at a female bear with a .22-caliber rifle in what he told police was an attempt to scare it off.
Instead, the bullet hit the bear, leaving it paralyzed.
The next morning, Wall called the response team after he found the bear still alive and surrounded by its three cubs. A biologist euthanized the bear and called for officers to investigate.
Wall told officers that he stuck the rifle through a partially opened slider door and fired at the bear on his deck from about 15 feet away. The investigation concluded that Wall wasn’t in any danger of an attack, didn’t have livestock or pets outside in danger and also failed to call the department for assistance.
Department staff is currently monitoring the cubs.
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