On Friday morning, an devastating incident occurred in Yavapai County, Arizona, when 66-year-old Steven Jackson lost his life in an unexpected attack by a black bear.
Jackson had been sitting at a table enjoying a coffee while building a cabin on the site when the adult male bear charged him. As Jackson shouted for help, several neighbors rushed to respond, but were unable to prevent the tragic outcome. T
he bear dragged Jackson roughly 75 feet down an embankment before a neighbor was able to shoot it and break up the attack. At that point, Jackson had already perished.
The Yavapai County Sheriff’s office received multiple 911 calls regarding the incident, and officials arrived on the scene swiftly, along with Prescott police, and animal control officers. Jackson had been present at the campsite in the Groom Creek area for a while, and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to be there. There were no visible sources of food or anything else that would attract a bear.
Authorities are in agreement that the bear that caused the attack has been eliminated, so the risk of further aggressive animals to the public is minimal. The approximate age of the bear is 6-10 years old, but further investigations are taking place. In addition, a necropsy, or animal autopsy, is being conducted.
There is a healthy population of black bears in Arizona, and other bear sightings in the Prescott area are also a commonplace event. Even so, assaults like the one on Friday are “super rare”. The most recent fatal bear attack in the state occurred in 2011.
The sheriff wants to make one thing crystal clear: shooting bears is only allowed under the assumption that the bear is a danger to them or someone else. He expressed that citizens should not “freak out” and shoot animals as a result of this incident.