A man shot and killed a bear in his yard. He won’t face charges.

After the shots rang out, news of the dead bear spread quickly among the neighbors.

For the past few years, residents of Willow Bend in Fort Walton Beach say they’ve come to know the Florida black bears that often roam the neighborhood. There’s Burt, a hefty 500-pound male who is a regular on Ring cameras. And there’s Big Mama, often spotted running around with her cubs, Larry, Moe and Curly.

So when a state wildlife vehicle arrived in front of a home the night of June 24, after neighbors heard gunshots, their worries grew.

“I was concerned,” said Tosha Vanderford, 49, who posts videos on social media of bears visiting her yard. When her husband later saw a dead bear in the yard a few houses down, she said she was “completely devastated.” Wanting to know more, she requested the incident