Bear charges cop after school lockdown outside Philadelphia

    Police are manning the area around a suburban Philadelphia elementary school after an officer was charged by a bear.

    Ithan Elementary School, in Bryn Mawr, had been on lockdown Tuesday over a bear sighting in the morning.

    Radnor motorcycle officer Lt. Christopher Flanagan tells The Philadelphia Inquirer the bear came right after him and he had to “dump” his bike.

    He says the bear came out of the woods and was running parallel him before charging. Flanagan says he hurriedly returned to the school on foot.

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    The school is surrounded by woods and set on 54 acres.

    Police and Pennsylvania Game Commission officials are searching for the bear.

    Another bear sighting was reported in the St. David’s section of Radnor Township on Saturday, less than five miles from the schoo

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal