Bear breaks into Alaska hospital at 2 am, helps itself to an early Halloween candy buffet

A black bear broke into a hospital on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska, at around 2 a.m. on October 12, 2026. The bear wandered through the emergency department before finding a bucket of donated Halloween candy and consuming it. A woman named Sherri Warnke spotted the bear in a dimly lit hallway while exiting the hospital after visiting her mother. She was trapped without access to other areas due to locked doors and managed to avoid the bear by slowly backing away. Hospital staff later showed Warnke surveillance footage where the bear appeared to be checking in at the emergency department reception desk. No injuries were reported, but the incident caused a stir among the hospital's staff and patients.