'Rogue' Black Bear Mauls 10-Year-Old Boy Playing In Grandparents' Connecticut Backyard

A 10-year-old boy playing in the backyard of his grandparents' Connecticut home was attacked by a 250-pound "rogue" black bear. The male bear was shot and killed shortly after the attack.

The incident took place Sunday around 11 a.m. when the boy was playing near a trampoline in the backyard of the Morris home. His wheelchair-using grandfather, James Butler, was working in the yard close by, according to the New York Post.

The bear appeared from the thick woods behind the house and ambushed the child before trying to drag the boy away.

"I heard him yell 'bear' and when I looked up, I saw his leg in the bear's mouth and the bear trying to drag him across the lawn," Butler told the Republican-American.

With a metal flat bar in his hand, Butler wheeled towards the bear but could not strike the animal. He managed to throw the bar at the male bear's head, prompting the bear to let go of the child.

The bear once again grabbed the boy and clawed him, trying to roll the child over onto his back.

Butler's neighbor, Jonathan Digimas, rushed over to the backyard after hearing the boy's screams. Digimas brandished a pipe and yelled loudly to drive the bear away.

While Butler and his grandson were inside the house, the bear returned and made his way up a ramp that Butler uses to wheel himself towards the house. The animal stood on top of the ramp and peered into the house through a screen door.

"We thought he was coming through the screen (door)," Butler added. "No doubt he was a big threat."

The bear was scared off the ramp by a state trooper and eventually shot and killed.

The boy was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. His grandparents said he had a puncture wound to his thigh. His back also had claw marks, and bite marks were left on his foot and ankle.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) described the bear as a "rogue" male and said a DEEP conservation officer shot the bear in a wooded area near Butler's house.

Officials said bears have always been considered dangerous by DEEP and the increasing bear population in the area poses the threat to humans as the animals try to look for food sources in residential areas.