This bear was aggressive, police say. It had charged a 14-year-old girl and a man and fought with a dog before resident Howard Beasley stared it down and shot it sometime after 1 a.m. Saturday, according to Galena Police Chief John Millan. No people were injured.

Locals believe the bear was preying on moose calves -- veal, to a bear.

Galena is a city of nearly 700 people about 270 miles west of Fairbanks on the Yukon River.

Beasley, director of the city water plant, said he and his wife had been fishing into the night on Bear Creek, off the Yukon. His wife fell and was hurt, so he took her to the local clinic, then returned to the river to collect the boat.

He was just pulling in at home when his wife hobbled out and shouted from the balcony that a neighbor needed help, and fast.

"There was a bear in the yard," she told him. "They couldn't get rid of it. They didn't have a gun. It was coming back, and it was getting more aggressive."

So he pulled back out, still hauling the boat, to track down that bear.

Scared residents started calling the police chief around 1:25 a.m. Millan said in a news release that Galena police respond to bear calls, but the community only has two officers, and there's one vacancy. He was arresting someone for domestic violence when the bear attacks happened Saturday.

The teenager was attacked first, according to police. Kids in Galena play outside until all hours in summer, when the sun doesn't set, Beasley said.

The neighbor, Christopher Kriska, told police that he heard a noise, went to investigate and was charged by the bear. His dog, Scooby, a pit-bull-and-lab mix, then attacked the bear. They both managed to get inside.

But unlike the incident on Friday, when a young bear ran off after tussling with a St. Bernard on a run, this bear wouldn't leave.

So it fell to Beasley.

"I just happened to see the bear coming out of the woods again," Beasley said. "There's no doubt it saw me. It was only 30 feet away, and it put its head down and huffed up his shoulders like he was getting ready -- was coming out no matter what. I went ahead and popped him with the gun."

Beasley said he used a 12-gauge shotgun with slugs to drop the bear. He's hunted grizzly before and this spring got a nice black bear with meat he said is as tasty as beef from Carrs.

But the bear Saturday wasn't good for eating, Beasley said. He skinned it, as required, to send the hide, skull and claws to the state Department of Fish and Game. The bear had been eating carrion, along with moose calves, so he disposed of the carcass away from town.

Saturday's incident was the first attack by a bear on a person in Galena in at least 30 years, according to police. They wander into town in search of garbage but usually stick to the dump, about five miles out of town.

Millan asks anyone who sees a bear in or near town to called Galena police at 656-2177 or troopers at 1-800-811-0911.