Heroic Neighbor Saves Man From Bear Attack In Pennsylvania

They say black bears are the most docile, least threatening bear, and that may be true, but it certainly doesn’t mean they’re safe to be around.

A resident of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania (not too far from where I grew up) found himself in a scary situation on Sunday when an adolescent black bear decided it didn’t much like him walking on the same trail and decided to attack.

Newswatch16 spoke to some witnesses who watched the beginnings of this incident in real time. A worker at Mason’s Cold Beer said she saw the bear emerge from a patch of woods and run through the Jim Thorpe Market parking lot, where it got spooked by people milling about who began yelling and screaming when they saw it. The bear ran off, dashing down a trail near the back of the lot; a trail that Andrew Nierer happened to be walking on.

Nierer was headed back from grocery shopping when seemingly out of nowhere this young bear approached him. Despite trying to keep his distance, the bear chose violence and attacked, tackling Nierer to the ground while attempting to get at his throat. The entire incident happened to be caught on security camera and the situation looked extremely dire until help arrived in the form of his neighbor.

Neighbor Saves The Day

Mike Bramich just so happened to be nearby while all of this was going down. He saw the bear and kept a close eye on it, knowing he was packing heat if the situation got to that point.

Unfortunately, it quickly became obvious that lethal force was required. The black bear showed absolutely no signs that it would soon scamper off, leaving Bramich with just one option. He pulled out his gun, shot, and killed the bear. His heroic actions undoubtedly saved Nierer from serious injury at the least and potentially saved his life at the most.

This should shut up all those tough guys who claim they’d be able to fight a bear because “they see red”. This one was barely over a baby and had no problems tossing Nierer around. Can you imagine what it’d look like if it was fully mature? Not something I want to think about…

Nierer, the victim, recalled the situation to WNEP:

“She came and looked at him and then charged after me; at that point, I either make a decision on going farther to my house or to him to use the gun if he needs it.”

Bramich, who saved him, also spoke about the incident:

“It just up and jumped on him and grabbed him by the arm and wrestling him around here, I had no choice but to kill the bear so that’s what I did… I just did what I needed to do, a man’s life was at stake the bear was trying to get to his throat, so I did what I did, I had to do it.”

A Good Guy With A…

Whether due to Bramich’s quick actions, the fact the bear was young, or just blind luck, Nierer wound up with only a few cuts from the attack.

When asked how he was doing and how he felt about Bramich shooting the bear, he said:

“She only minorly got me, like I got a little stitch on my arm and some scratch marks. I got lucky, I’m not hurt, I’m not offended at it at all, it’s life.”

It would be hard to imagine someone getting their life saved thanks to the use of a firearm but still being upset about the use of said firearm, but it’s 2025 and we know there’s plenty of people out there who don’t enjoy the pew-pew life. But, to those people I say just look at this video and tell me there’s are zero reasons for someone to have a gun. Sure, not everyone is going to be attacked by a bear but weird (and most importantly, unpredictable) things happen all over the place all the time, so it’s pretty easy to make a case for why someone should be allowed to own and carry a firearm in the unlikely, but terrifying, scenario that one is needed.

Huge shoutout to Mike Bramich. Thank you for stepping up and saving your neighbor. We are very happy that Andrew got away with just minor injuries and a heck of a story to tell.

We need more unity in this country and while I hope no one gets attacked by a bear ever again, maybe we can use this as a rallying moment to realize that we need to be looking out for each other because truly we have no idea what possibilities, good or bad, are sitting right around the corner.