OAKLAND, Md. — A western Maryland man has been acquitted of illegally shooting a black bear that appeared on the deck of his home.
The bear was paralyzed with a .22-caliber bullet in its spine and had to be euthanized.
Fifty-three-year-old David Wall of Oakland was charged with hunting out of season, but a judge concluded that he did not intend to harm the bear, according to a report in the Cumberland Times-News.
Wall told the Department of Natural Resources Police that he fired through a partly open sliding door in an attempt to scare the animal off his back deck on the night of May 16.
The police said they responded to a call from Wall the next day and found the wounded bear surrounded by three yearling bears.