BUTTE — Charges are pending against a security officer with the ritzy Yellowstone Club who allegedly killed a black bear sow, that had at least two cubs, earlier this month.

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks plans to cite Shane Barstad with one count of taking a bear out of season, said Pat Flowers, the agency’s Region 3 supervisor.

Flowers said the agency mailed the charge to the Madison County courthouse on Friday. An employee in Madison County justice court said the charge hadn’t yet arrived, but would likely be filed early next week.

Barstad, when contacted on the job Friday at the Yellowstone Club, declined to comment. A spokesman for the club, located south of Bozeman and adjacent to Big Sky, was not immediately available to comment on the allegations.

Flowers did not know the sow’s age, but said the bear was accompanied by at least two cubs. Barstad turned himself in and told wildlife officers he accidentally shot the bear with a shotgun slug while attempting to haze the animal, according to Flowers.

FWP captured one cub, which will be taken to the agency’s wildlife rehabilitation center in Helena with hopes of eventually returning the animal to the wild, Flowers said. The other cub was not found.

No further details were available Friday about the case, he said.