State environmental police officers are searching Greenwood Lake for a large black bear that was shot after breaking into a home on Seventh Road overnight.

Residents of the Wah-Ta-Wah Park neighborhood, just east of the lake and up against a mountain, said bear encounters are common, but the break-in followed by a shooting was a first.

Greenwood Lake police told News 12 that just after midnight Thursday, the bear attempted to enter the house through various doors and windows, before finally managing to open a window enough to crawl inside.

Police said the owner was alerted to the break-in by his dog, and shot the bear once in the midsection with a legally owned handgun.

Then, the bear ran off.

Neighbor Argie Miller said bears often walk by, or through, his property apparently searching for food.

Miller shared a video his wife took last year of the couple's dog, Thunder, chasing a large black bear through their yard and out to the street.

"That bear probably weighed several hundred pounds," Miller said, "and he (Thunder) intimidated the bear."

Police said bear sightings and incidents increase in the spring, especially in Wah-ta-Wah Park, a neighborhood that crawls up a mountain believed to be home to black bears.

They are advising residents to secure doors, windows and trash cans and not to put the cans by the curb until right before they are due to be picked up.

The Henry family had to reinforce the lock on their trash can.

"The bear pulled it, broke it, dismantled it," Naomi Henry said, "but then with that bolt in there, it's definitely worked out for us."

Police and wildlife experts suggest using loud banging or yelling to scare away bears.

Many residents said they have learned to coexist with bears, though they have been annoyed over bears raiding their garbage and bird feeders.

The homeowner who shot the bear declined comment for this story.

Greenwood Lake police said their department and the DEC have cleared the homeowner of wrongdoing.

The search for the bear is ongoing.