Bear shot after breaking into suburban B.C. home for a snack

COQUITLAM, B.C. -- A black bear that broke into a British Columbia home in search of food was shot and killed Thursday, a day after a woman was attacked in the same neighborhood.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said people at an adjacent golf course saw a large bear entering the house in this Vancouver suburb, although people upstairs had no idea the large animal had entered their basement.

Constable Sharen Leung said when officers arrived, the bear was in the yard eating food it had taken from a kitchen.

She said the officers shot the bear in the shoulder, but it climbed a tree.

When conservation officers arrived, they tranquilized the bear, which weighed 396 pounds, and then police shot and killed it.

On Wednesday, a 35-year-old woman was attacked by another bear in the same neighborhood while she was gardening in her yard.

The RCMP also shot that animal and the woman was taken to a hospital with a torn scalp and numerous bite wounds.

A spokesman for the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said Wednesday the neighborhood is a hot spot for bear sightings, though they rarely end in attacks.