Anchorage police shot and killed a brown bear after it was struck on the Glenn Highway near Eagle River Thursday afternoon, briefly closing the highway's inbound lanes.
APD spokesperson Dani Myren says police were informed shortly after 3:30 p.m. of the collision, during which an SUV traveling south struck the bear near a weigh station in the Hiland Road area. The bear was reportedly in the median of the highway after it was hit.
"Unfortunately, the bear was still alive but injured," Myren said. "It was a threat and needed to be dispatched."
Myren says the highway's southbound lanes were closed as police responded, but reopened by 4 p.m. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists were headed to the scene to collect the bear's carcass Thursday afternoon.
No injuries were reported by the SUV's occupants.
Contact Chris Klint