Bear attacks 7-year-old boy playing in yard outside New York City

Police killed a bear after the animal attacked a 7-year-old boy outside his home in a New York City suburb Tuesday, authorities said.

The boy was playing in the woods about 11:15 a.m. when he encountered the bear just behind his house on Hickory Kingdom Road in the Westchester County community of Bedford, about 40 miles north of Manhattan, officials said.

The boy had non-life-threatening injuries.

When North Castle police and other first responders arrived, they found the bear in the backyard, where the attack happened and it “continued to present a danger,” according to a police statement.

After the bear was killed, it was taken by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and transported to the Westchester County Department of Health where it will be tested for rabies.