Hollywood animal trainer distraught over fatal bear attack

In an emotional phone interview with The Associated Press late Wednesday, Randy Miller said he was overwhelmed with grief at the death of his cousin, Stephan Miller, who was killed Tuesday during the filming of a promotional video at Randy Miller's Predators in Action center.

"It's ... killing me. We were brothers," Randy Miller said, close to tears.

Miller, who witnessed the attack, would not talk in detail about what happened, but said the bear, a 5-year-old male named Rocky, was trained to wrestle with experienced handlers.

"It's a playful behavior brought out on cue," he said.

But when Rocky suddenly bit his cousin in the neck, "it hit him in a very vulnerable spot. If it had hit his arm or something it would have been bad," but wouldn't have cost him his life, Miller said.

"It happened so fast," he said. "We did what we had to do to stop the bear. It took a matter of seconds to get him off, but it was too late."

Handlers used pepper spray to subdue the bear. Paramedics arriving shortly after the initial emergency call were unable to revive Stephan Miller.

A 911 recording documented desperate efforts to save him before paramedics arrived.

"He's bleeding heavily from his neck. ... We need someone here immediately," a woman told the operator, who directed emergency procedures while determining that the bear was contained.