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Bear attacks 7-year-old boy playing in yard outside New York City

The animal "continued to present a danger" after it encountered the youngster, forcing police to take deadly action, officials said.
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Police killed a bear after it attacked a 7-year-old boy outside his home in a New York City suburb Tuesday, authorities said.

The boy was playing in the woods at about 11:15 a.m. when he encountered the bear just behind his house on Hickory Kingdom Road in the Westchester County community of Bedford, about 40 miles north of Manhattan, officials said.

The boy had non-life-threatening injuries.

North Castle police and other first responders found the bear in the backyard, where the attack happened, and it "continued to present a danger," police said in a statement.

After the bear was killed, the State Department of Environmental Conservation took it to the Westchester County Health Department, where it will be tested for rabies.