Ridgewood police coaxing bear out of tree near school

Ridgewood Police and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife captured a black bear in a residential area near three schools where students were held until the 350-pound bruin was captured.

Bear in a tree in Ridgewood (News 12 New Jersey)

The bear was tranquilized and fell into a net around 3 p.m after climbing up his third tree of the day with wildlife and police not far behind. The bear will be transported to a forest away from populated areas.

The adventure began when a bear climbed up a tree in a yard on West Ridgewood Avenue across from the Ridge Elementary School and near the George Washington Middle School around 9:30 a.m., according to a notice on the school website.

NBC 4 New York reports students were kept inside the school while police used dogs and the sound of gun fire to keep the bear in the tree until DOE personnel arrived. Once they arrived, a fire crew was seen in News 12 helicopter footage above the tree, showering the bear with water trying to get the bear to climb down the tree where it would be tranquilized and then fall into a net.

A member of the DOE shot a tranquilizer at the bear, according to News 12 New Jersey, and missed making the bear run away and pass through several backyards before climbing back up a second tree. The bear went back on the lose and children at the Ridge School, Orchard School and GW Middle School were kept at the school "until it is safe to do so." Students were released after 3:15 p.m.

“We just want the bear to be safely relocated. Any time you have to euthanize a bear it’s the last resort,” Police Chief John Ward told The Record.

Nearby residents in the Bergen County community had been urged by police to stay indoors. Several other helicopters are hovering over the scene as well.

A black bear and two cubs were seen in a leaf dump earlier in the day in neighboring Wyckoff, according the The Record.