It was standing on its hind legs and was easily eight feet tall.
This threw the entire situation into sudden harsh relief. No wonder there weren’t any dogs or birds and why this guy looked like a piece of hamburger. Smart animals sensed a predator and got the hell out of Dodge. “McClunis, back away.”
She took a step sideways, retreating as the bear didn’t move. Every line of her body was tight with coiled tension.
“Come towards me,” he ordered, trying to think about their options. They had no protective equipment and no weapons. Animal control, wherever they were, certainly carried nothing strong enough to tranq a bear. Even when he’d seen them tranq dogs, it took ten minutes to take effect.
McClunis’s slow retreat did not elicit a reaction from the bear, and, when she came within arm’s length, he relaxed slightly.
The patient was obviously not going to make it because the next step was to call for help, as they had gone from rescuers to needing rescue themselves.
Mateo slowly activated his radio on his shoulder. “We have an escaped bear and one fatality. The scene is NOT secure. We need animal control, the zoo, maybe a SWAT team with a rocket launcher.”
“Get the civilians indoors,” McClunis suggested quietly.
“Activate the emergency alert and get everyone inside.” Mateo referred to the high-pitched emergency alert signal that was periodically tested.
“Did you say one fatality? From the bear? Are you safe?”
“We are about forty feet away, not safe, and I doubt the deceased ripped off his own arm.”
There was a clicking sound for a few seconds. Dispatch said, “Cleveland PD is pulling all available units in your direction. We’ve got the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo director on the phone.”
“Hello, this is Kimbra Shaw, Metroparks director.”
“Do you have an escaped bear?” Mateo asked as he and McClunis continued to back away more.
“All of our bears have been accounted for visually. You probably are facing a domestic bear. Someone raised it at their house. It’s unlikely it is afraid of people.”
“That sounds great,” McClunis said.
“Does the bear have a hump on its back? Do you think it is taller than six feet?”
“I think it has a hump. It’s a light brown, and it is staring at us on its hind legs,” Mateo said.
“Sounds like a grizzly. What you need to do is get away and go inside any building to wait it out. Walk sideways or backwards. Always face it and DO NOT run. If you run, it will view you as prey and chase you.”
“How fast is it?” McClunis asked while they carefully stepped sideways and backward to the nearest building.
“Faster than a racehorse, so don’t have it chase you… but if it does, don’t play dead. Your only chance is to fight for your life.”
Dispatch came back on. “Medic 15, please give us a status update.”
“We are retreating in an orderly fashion from the bear,” Mateo said.
Then it all went to hell.
Practically conjured by magic, a group of elementary school children in bathing suits left a house headed toward the nearby community pool.
The bear turned, its interest completely changing.
Oh no.
The bear dropped on all fours and started a leisurely walk toward the kids. The way it moved was easily identifiable. It was stalking new prey.
“We have civilians on Oak Park. The bear has noticed them and is approaching. I repeat, we have civilians, small children, in the bear's vicinity,” Mateo warned, hoping they kept quiet.
The teacher in charge of the kids turned around and suddenly noticed what was sharing the street with them. She started screaming and the kids, seeing the bear, did the same.
