It's BEARly avoided capture, and remains on the loose.
Early Tuesday morning, authorities responded to a church and school in Granada Hills, Calif., after a large black bear was spotted resting nearby after climbing a 50-foot tree, KTLA reports.
The school, North Valley Military Institutes, immediately went on lockdown.
"There is a bear in a tree in the parking lot," the school's website said. "All students that were here on time have been escorted to class rooms and are on lock down, students that were late are in the Parish Hall with Captain Diab and other staff. Everyone is safe and waiting on animal control to take over the situation."
Several officers responded to the call, escorting children away before shooting tranquilizer darts at the bear. An LAPD helicopter then hovered close enough for its rotor wash to hit some of the tree's branches.
Undeterred, the bear was able to scamper out of the tree and, 90 minutes after the initial report, has shown no signs of slowing down, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The bear, which was seen to have a tag on its ear from a previous capture, made its way to a golf course before venturing onto neighboring properties. As officers approached the bear, it tumbled through bushes and trees, jumped over a wall and took off.
On a live-stream helicopter video from KTLA5, a reporter can be heard saying of the bear: "It's like a needle in a haystack."
The animal, last spotted at 9:45 a.m., remains at large.
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