Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Infant Ripped From Carriage, Killed by Black Bear

Aired August 20, 2002 - 12:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Some people are cutting their vacations short in the Catskills after an infant was ripped from her carriage and killed by a black bear. The rare and brazen attack is shocking visitors at this popular New York vacation spot.
Reporter Scott Rapoport of CNN affiliate WCBS has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT RAPOPORT, WCBS REPORTER: The night brought silence, but no peace to this bungalow camp in the Catskills, the place where a 5- month-old baby was fatally mauled by a bear, amidst the screams of a mother and horrified bystanders.

The young black bear, which was killed afterwards by police, simply snatched the baby from its carriage in broad daylight, while the child's mother was rushing an older brother and sister to safety. Neighbors gave chase, and many of the Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn who stay here during the summer say they are now too upset to remain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody wants to go home.

RAPOPORT: Some witnesses here say they actually saw the bear with the baby in its mouth, a horrifying and frightening site.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bear is (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He's ready to fight.

RAPOPORT: The bear dropped the baby then, but little Esther Schwimmer (ph) was dead before she got to the hospital. The cop who killed the animal says he found her sitting quietly in the woods a short distance away. Initial tests reportedly show that bear, seen here being taken away by authorities, did not have rabies.

So far, we are told there have been about 40 nuisance complaints about bears this year in the lower Hudson Valley.

In Brooklyn, Scott Rapoport, for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com