Cop kills bear in suburban Westchester, horrifying neighbors as state questions story: ‘Moaning and groaning’

They couldn’t bear it.

A jumpy suburban Westchester County cop shot a black bear roaming around a residential neighborhood — drawing outrage from horrified locals and wildlife experts who said the lost animal didn’t need to die.

Harrison Police Department officials tried to tamp down the furor with a Facebook post contending they couldn’t get tranquilizers or trapping help, so they made the difficult decision to “humanely euthanize the bear in the interest of public safety.”

But scores of neighbors responded, bearing a grudge against the cops for the dreadful spectacle they — and their kids — witnessed.

“You shot it out of a tree and it fell pretty far to the ground!” one neighbor posted. “It was moaning and groaning as it was dying by the base of the tree! We live right there. We heard it. My kids heard it.”

“There was nothing humane about this,” another wrote.

The cops’ contention that they had no choice but to kill the bear also came under fire.

State Department of Environmental Conversation officials told News12 that the bear “posed no immediate threat to residents and had access to reasonable escape routes to nearby wooded areas.”

Harrison cops claimed that DEC police “were unable to provide any type of assistance whatsoever.”

The TV news outlet also reported that local wildlife expert Jim Horton offered to help police tranquilize the bear — and served up a recording to prove it.

“You know, it’s just frustrating that I could have helped the bear and, you know, unfortunately, now it’s deceased,” Horton told News12.