ARIZONA MAN ATTACKED, KILLED BY BLACK BEAR

An Arizona man having a morning coffee was fatally attacked Friday by a male black bear that caught him unaware and dragged him down an embankment before a neighbor shot and killed it, officials said.

A preliminary investigation by the Yavapai County Sheriff ’s Office determined that Steven Jackson, 66, of Tucson, had been sitting at a table on his property in the Groom Creek area south of Prescott where he was building a home, the office said in a statement.

The bear attacked Jackson and dragged him about 75 feet down an embankment, according to officials.

“Neighbors who heard the victim screaming tried to intervene through shouts and car horns, but the bear did not let go of Jackson until one neighbor was able to retrieve his rif le and shoot the bear to get him to disengage,” the statement said.

Jackson was dead when officials arrived.

The sheriff’s office and officials with the Arizona Game and Fish Department said the attack was “highly uncommon” but “appeared to be predatory in nature,” adding that there did not appear to be anything at the site that would have precipitated a bear attack, such as food or access to water.

The site of the attack was not near recreation sites for camping.

The sheriff ’s office said it would investigate the death, and the Game and Fish Department said it would examine the bear carcass and test it for disease.

Todd Geiler, a member of the state Game and Fish Commission, said in a statement that the attack was “an especially aggressive, unprovoked attack that reminds us that wildlife can be unpredictable.”

Bear attacks remain exceedingly rare, and fatal attacks rarer still.

According to the department, there have been 15 bear attacks on people in Arizona since 1990, two of which were fatal, including the one on Friday.