A Karns City man is facing charges after he allegedly lied to police about shooting a black bear in his backyard.
Game Commission officials were called to a home on the 1600 block of Hooker Road on June 6 for a black bear in someone’s backyard.
When the game warden arrived at the home of 54-year-old Thomas Risinger, he told police that he heard a gunshot and found a bear injured at his home. The bear was still alive, but severely injured, on Risinger’s back porch when the warden arrived. The bear had to be euthenized.
However, during the warden’s investigation, he found evidence that linked Risinger to the shooting. According to charging documents, the warden found two live rifle cartridges next to the bear’s head. It was also missing a significant portion of its lower jaw.
Following additional questioning, Risinger admitted to firing a rifle at the bear.
He told the warden that he was inside when he heard a noise coming from his porch. Risinger found the bear dragged a large container of bird seed from his porch to his driveway. He then tried to scare the bear away, but it did not move. That’s when Risinger went to retrieve his rifle.
Risinger yelled at the bear one more time, which led to the bear standing up. Risinger told the warden he took that as a sign of aggression and fired one shot at the bear, hitting it in the mouth. The bear then ran at Risinger who was on his porch. Risinger was able to get inside his house safely before the bear got on the porch.
The warden said the incident was not a situation of self-defense and that Risinger shot the bear out of season leading to the charges.
Risinger is also facing charges for possessing a gun, since he’s a convicted felon. After the shooting, he allegedly gave the rifle to his neighbor to hide it from authorities.
He’s been charged with possession of a firearm prohibited, tampering with physical evidence, and unlawful kill/take of big game due to black bear season being currently closed. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 15 and Risinger is currently being held in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bond.
