Two Arkansas deputies were suspended after a state Game and Fish Commission investigation into the shooting of an injured black bear out of season, authorities said.
Logan County Sheriff Boyd Hicks said the bear was injured in a car accident within the city limits of Paris. Three Logan County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the location of the bear to watch it, Hicks said.
Because the wreck happened within Paris city limits and involved a wild animal, multiple agencies were involved, including the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Paris Police Department.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens said the deputies shot the bear the afternoon of April 13 on Arkansas 109.
The three deputies were put on paid leave during the investigation, Hicks said in a statement.
Two of the three officers were suspended without pay after the investigation, Hicks said, one for six days and one for three days. The deputies’ suspensions stemmed from their failure to work with other agencies and their violation of protocol, not because they shot the bear, he explained.
While waiting on a wildlife officer to arrive, one deputy “decided the bear needed to be put down and fired at the bear," causing it to raise up, and another deputy then fired several rounds, Hicks said in a statement.
After shooting the animal, one of the deputies said ”I just killed my first bear,” according to the statement.
Stephens said the commission investigated because when a wild animal "is killed out of season or put down after being injured we want to find out what happened.”
Hicks said he and the wildlife officers who investigated the case came to the conclusion that the deputies had “no criminal intent in their actions” and that they were “merely trying to do what they thought was right.”
Stephens said the commission’s report has been turned over to the Logan County prosecuting attorney. A call to Prosecuting Attorney Tyler Barham was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.