PRESCOTT, AZ — The people who live under the pines of Groom Creek picked the area not only because it’s beautiful, but because they want peace and serenity.
Some in the remote area feel that serenity was taken from them after a deadly bear attack last Friday.
“It’s surprising, it’s rare, and it’s an absolute tragedy,” said David Montano.
Montano and the tight-knit community around him in Groom Creek are still processing what happened when an unprovoked 365-pound black bear attacked a neighbor – killing him.
Montano says around 7 in the morning, a neighbor pounded on his door and said, “Bears got Steven, grab your gun. So I did.”
After looking around for a moment, David said he spotted the bear down a hill. He got the bear’s attention and shot the bear once. He said the bear rolled off of the victim, 66-year-old Steven Jackson, and he shot him one more time.
”I realized that I had a large helping in preventing a statewide manhunt for this bear and also preventing, even the neighbors from being attacked,” said Montano.
On the weapon used, Montano said a ’30-30’ rifle was shot twice to stop the threat of the bear and added, “guns in the proper hands with proper training can save lives, no matter what.”
Since the attack, Montano says neighbors are looking out for one another. They all have one another’s contact information and they’re carrying air horns and bear spray when they leave their home.
They’re also doing what they can to honor and remember their neighbor taken by wildlife.
“He was an amazing guy… just the smartest man, just knew everything about everything. Just such a loss for all of us,” said Montano.
ABC15 heard from a family member of Jackson who said he was a private person and his wishes were to remain as such.
Montano says he’s lived under these pines for seven or eight years and says it’s rare to see a bear.
There have been just 15 bear attacks on people in Arizona since 1990. This is the second fatal bear attack in our state since then, which is as far back as the database for Arizona Game and Fish tracks.
The first fatality happened in 2011 in Pinetop.
On Wednesday, Arizona Game and Fish said the 7–10-year-old bear was otherwise healthy and did not have rabies.
Some who live near where the attack happened told us off camera, some of that peace that comes from living among nature – was taken away after the attack.
“We’re one less person up here but he’s still here in spirit. It’s just going to take time for us to piece this all together. It is rare this situation happened,” said Montano.
