KAGA, Ishikawa Prefecture--A black bear that wandered into a vast shopping mall here was shot and killed following a frantic 13-hour-search for the animal.

Reporters who gathered outside the Abio City Kaga mall in front of JR Kagaonsen Station, a gateway for the Kaga onsen hot spring resort, said they heard gunshots ring out inside at 9:10 p.m. on Oct. 19.

Local police sought permission from the mall and Kaga city government officials to take the bear down “using live bullets," a few hours before the shooting, cautioning that firing weapons inside risked damaging the building, according to sources.

Ishikawa prefectural riot police, accompanied by a local hunting club member, then rushed to mall to corner the bear before it hurt someone.

Over the two previous days, a number of people sustained injuries in encounters with bears that ventured into the city.

Nine minutes after the gunshots, the city government sent out an emergency email alert saying, “The bear has been killed.” Twenty minutes later, the male bear was brought outside the mall in a bag so reporters could take photos.

According to a city government official, the bear weighed more than 100 kilograms and stood 1.3 meters tall.

It was shot near the delivery gate of a storage area behind a food sales floor, the mall's operator, Kaga Community Plaza Co., said the following day. There were no signs it had caused any damage there.

Ishikawa Prefectural Police took an emergency call from the facility at 7:50 a.m. on Oct. 19 saying the bear had entered the mall through the rear storage area.

Police and city officials used security cameras throughout the mall to confirm the animal had not escaped outside and also deployed the city's drones to check inside the shopping arcade.

It took around 13 hours to locate and kill the bear as those in pursuit first had to check every inch of the mall that accommodates about 70 stores, including a supermarket.

The mall's complex layout also complicated matters. Some doors connecting rear storage areas and sales floors can be opened if pushed.

It was early evening before the searchers discovered the bear hadn't budged from its initial spot inside the rear storage area.

Spotting the bear as it lopped around the corner of the storage area, they started to move in for the kill.

They boxed the animal in using a 1.7 meter-long iron wagon for transporting commercial goods as a barricade.

The mall, which reopened to the public early Oct. 20, said it will lock its delivery gates more often and post security guards in the area.

“Please don't worry and come to our facility,” Kenichi Saikawa, Kaga Community Plaza’s operating manager, said, following the incident.

“It took so long to get rid of the bear, so I was worried about it. But now I feel relieved,” one regular customer in her 70s said.

“I heard that bears come into town when their food runs short, but humans started to reclaim mountains first, and so maybe this is our fault,” she added.

Bears have also turned up near the popular Yamashiro onsen resort, about 3.5 kilometers south of JR Kagaonsen Station.

Some fear the intrusions by bears will scare tourists away from the resort that was only just recovering from a slump in business due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. They have the central government's “Go To Travel” campaign, which provides subsidies to people who book trips, to thank for that.

A man who works at the resort said “no one has canceled a reservation because of bears, so far.”

Takashi Okeya, who sells handmade Japanese sweets at a nearby shop, along with eggs steamed or boiled in the hot spring's water, fears for the future.

“If tourists stay at hotels all the time, the impact will be devastating for shops like ours,” the 55-year-old said. 

Customers were scarce in the area on Oct. 20, he added, even though the weather was fine and perfect for strolling around, a fact he attributed to as likely due to the bears.

Yukio Yamagishi, agriculture, forestry and fisheries division chief of the Kaga city government, sought to allay concerns over the bear intrusions.

“We will continue to give warnings to residents about bears, but we would like to discuss how to disseminate information with the tourism department and do it carefully,” he said.

(This article was written by Jin Hirakawa and Rina Horikoshi.)