A bear was struck and killed on I-395 Saturday afternoon.
The bear was earlier spotted walking near Arlington National Cemetery earlier in the morning and, around 1:30 p.m., near Route 110 and Washington Blvd.
A video posted to Instagram, meanwhile, showed the bear running along I-395 near the Pentagon.
It was shortly after 2 p.m. that state police responded to a report of a dead bear on the highway.
“At 2:08 p.m. Saturday, Virginia State Police received a call from a driver who spotted a dead bear on the side of I-395 north near Exit 8C,” VSP spokesman Matthew Demlein said. “When the trooper arrived on scene, he confirmed it was a deceased bear and contacted Arlington County Animal Control to respond and remove the carcass.”
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington confirmed to ARLnow that animal control “responded to the scene and picked up the bear.”
Several hours later, a man called police and said he struck the bear while driving but “did not stop because he was feeling ill,” said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
A young bear was spotted roaming in several north Arlington neighborhoods over the past week. The most recent sighting relayed to ARLnow was in Arlington’s Maywood neighborhood on Tuesday, when the bear was photographed rummaging through a trash can and bird feeder in the backyard of a home.
It is unclear if that bear is the one struck and killed today.
