RALEIGH -- North Carolina State University students got a surprise when they woke up to a dead bear on a bench earlier this week. Now the preliminary investigation has returned a cause of death for the bear.

Jeff Cantrell with the Wildlife Resource Commission says the unofficial necropsy results show that the bear died when it was hit by a vehicle. An investigation is still ongoing to determine who hit the bear, before placing the estimated 250-pound bear on a bench in the center of campus.

Surveillance video is being scoped hoping to provide clues about who is responsible.