College Student Killed in Rare Bear Attack While Hiking in NJ [View all]

[cali]

A 300-pound male bear mauled a hiker to death in northern New Jersey in what officials say was the first fatal bear attack on record in the state.

Rutgers University identified the victim today as 22-year-old Darsh Patel, a senior studying technology and informatics at the school, who was hiking with friends in the Apshawa Preserve on Sunday when the attack happened.

"This is a rare occurrence," West Milford police Chief Timothy Storbeck said at a news conference today.

Patel, from Edison, N.J., was with five friends when the group realized a bear was following them, Storbeck said. They ran, splitting up along the way, and when the friends couldn't find Patel, they called police, who found the student's body about two hours later.

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/college-student-killed-rare-bear-attack-hiking-nj/story?id=25680953