Students feared bear that attacked teacher had come back

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — University officials decided to evacuate students off a mountain after a brown bear attacked their teacher and they feared the animal had returned.

Students reported hearing a bear within 200 yards of the helicopter that was taking their badly injured assistant professor, Forest Wagner, off the mountain, officials said.

Officials haven't been able to confirm a bear was in the area, but a state trooper hiked in to provide security as the group was flown off the mountain.

The details were among few to emerge since Wagner, a University of Alaska Southeast assistant professor, was mauled Monday as he led the mountaineering class outing in the wilderness near Haines, a remote town about 90 miles north of Juneau.