BEAR-Y LUCKY

Son, 12, Kills Bear While It Was Mauling His Dad

“Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me,” said Ryan Beierman, the teenager’s father.

A 12-year-old boy has been deemed a “hero” after he shot and killed a black bear attacking his father. The horrific ordeal occurred in the woods of western Wisconsin, where son Owen Beierman was with his dad, Ryan ​, 43, on a hunting trip. “I was flat on my back and could feel the bullet going through the bear,’’ Ryan told the Minnesota Star Tribune of his son’s shot. “Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me,” he added. Coincidentally, the bear that attacked Ryan had been shot by Owen earlier in the day but was only wounded. According to the New York Post, Ryan tried to shoot the bear before it attacked but missed. During their tussle, the bear bit Ryan on the arm. “My thought was: ‘He broke my arm.’ But it was punctured, not broken,” he said. The bear fell off Ryan after Owen’s lethal shot. Ryan walked away with a laceration on his cheek that required stitches. Once dead, neighbors cleaned the bear so Ryan and Owen could hang it.