Black bear goes postal at Alaska post office

Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Postal Service said a nearly 300-pound black bear wandered into the Anchorage Airport Post Office while about 75 employees were inside.

Postal Service spokeswoman Dawn Peppinger said about 75 employees were sorting mail inside the facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport when the bear wandered in through an open loading door about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"It's just one of the doors that we use when we move mail in and out the facility," Peppinger told the Alaska Dispatch News.

Peppinger said workers evacuated to a safe area inside the building while they called Airport Police and Fire officers.

Airport Deputy Police Chief Dave Schulling said officers arrived to find the bear had climbed onto a conveyor belt and ended up in the building's garbage compacting room.

Police Lt. Harry Crippen said officers tried to direct the bear back out through the open garage door, but they were unsuccessful. He said the bear was shot and killed after becoming aggressive toward officers.

Crippen said the incident lasted only about 10 minutes.

Peppinger said no employees were injured and there was no damage to the facility, but mail processing was shut down for a short time during the incident.