A bear had to be put down in Port Coquitlam after being struck by a vehicle, Mounties say.

Part of the Mary Hill Bypass was shut down late Tuesday night as Coquitlam RCMP dealt with the injured animal. They've provided few details, but said that an officer had to shoot the bear because it appeared to be injured.

Witnesses said it was struck by a passing vehicle.

Those who saw the collision said they wanted to help the struggling bruin, but stayed in their cars worrying that it would be unsafe to approach.

"We were just driving and I saw a shadow in front of me," Ness Hanbury told CTV News.

"It was pretty far away so we didn't really quite know what was going on, but there was a car in front of me that swerved around something."

Hanbury pumped her brakes to alert the driver behind her, then came to a full stop on the road. The driver behind Hanbury was able to stop, but a third vehicle hit the second.

The bear was "sitting straight up" in the roadway, so Hanbury called 911. Hanbury's friend, who was also in the vehicle, said it had blood on its face and that she'd seen it staggering around.

"It was just kind of sitting there like it had just gotten hit," Nicole Theodoropoulos said.

"It's unfortunate, and it's very sad that the people that hit the bear continued driving away without doing anything about it," Hanbury said.

Jackie Catherwood, the driver who was behind Hanbury and Theodoropoulos and was struck by the third vehicle, said it was obvious that the bear was dying.

"The bear was so injured that you could tell it couldn't even walk," Catherwood said.

"It was awful."