It was the first fatal polar bear attack in Alaska in 30 years.
Alaska’s first fatal polar bear attack in 30 years left a mother and infant dead this week after the animal mauled them to death and the bear could have continued its rampage after it tried to enter a school, according to reports.
Summer Myomick, 24, and her 1-year-old baby were outside Kingikmiut School in Wales, Alaska, when a polar bear emerged from the snow squall and mauled them to death Tuesday, according to CBS News.
The principal of Kingikmiut School immediately ordered a lockdown and told teachers to close all of the blinds so the students could not see the carnage that unfolded outside, CBS News reported.
Some people who worked at the school tried to scare the bear away, which briefly worked until the polar bear turned its attention to them and tried to enter the school, according to CBS News.
The quick-thinking principal, Dawn Hendrickson, quickly closed the door in the face of the charging bear, possibly saving lives, according to Susan Nedza, chief administrator of the Bering Strait School District, CBS News reported.
"The polar bear was chasing them and tried to get in as well," Nedza said. "Just horrific. ... Something you never think you would ever experience."
In a joint statement, the Alaska Nannut Co-management Council, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said they do not know what may have caused or contributed to the attack on the young mother and her child but are working together to gather more information about the incident, Anchorage Daily News reported.
Wales does not have a police force, according to CBS News, so a call for help was sent to community members, which led to two local hunters who responded to calls from the school to help but by the time they got to the scene it was too late to save the victims, Anchorage Daily News reported.
Wales, which is just below the Arctic Circle, is a whaling community and is the westernmost point on the North American mainland. It is just 50 miles from Russia across the Bering Strait and is home to about 150 people, almost all of them Inupiat, CBS News reported.
Wales is accessible by plane and boat, including barges that deliver household goods.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for the funeral expenses of the victims.
