Black bear spotted wandering outside Kentucky Walmart

May 30 (UPI) -- A crowd gathered outside a Kentucky Walmart early Monday morning after shoppers spotted a bear wandering in the parking lot.

Witnesses spotted the black bear outside the Somerset store at around 1:30 a.m., and called police and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials to help remove it.

"We seen it running down the sidewalk in front of the outdoor living center outside of Walmart, and me and six other cars tried to keep the bear from going towards the customer entrance," customer Malcolm Stephens told LEX 18.

Avid hunters Tyler and Travis Smith captured footage of the bear while maintaining a safe distance, but said a large crowd eventually formed around the animal.

"They realized what was going on, everyone walked over here and saw that there was a bear and it drew a huge crowd of people. I bet there [were]...70 or 80 people standing around with their phones out, cameras, pictures, videos, and the bear showed no fear whatsoever and laid there like a dog would," Tyler Smith said.

Officials used their sirens to scare the bear into a safe area. They believe the animal eventually made its way back into the woods.