A young polar bear was shot dead early Thursday after it broke into a house on Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula and attacked at least two other homes.

Around 4:30 a.m. Damien Reardon woke to loud banging on the main floor of the Goose Cove home he shares with seven family members, including his three kids.

“I heard a ruckus and noise and turned on a light and the polar bear was halfway in through the kitchen door,” Reardon told the Star. “It was pretty scary.”

His first thought? Get the young male bear, which he estimated to weigh around 600 pounds, out of his house.

Reardon, who was with his father, Louis, came face to face with the animal, before the 29-year-old started pounding the kitchen table to scare off the bear.

Finally, he grabbed a hunting rifle and fired a bullet over the bear’s head and out the open door.

“It scared him and luckily he backed off,” Reardon said.

Witnesses say the polar bear beat in doors and broke windows at two other homes and killed some sheep and ducks at a nearby stable.

They say the bear killed and moved on without eating.

“We figured he must have been starved, out looking for food,” Reardon said, adding that the bear had earlier been munching on a neighbour’s boots.

Polar bears are sometimes seen in the region, said Reardon’s brother, Dana.

“We’ve seen ‘em around, but this is the first one to ever go on a rampage like that,” Dana Reardon said.

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Police and wildlife officers responded, and the bear was shot around 8 a.m. when it appeared to be heading back into the community.

With files from Canadian Press