Yep, reasonable speculation I think. Still, officials felt threatened enough by the bear to shoot it, and these should be folks that know what aggressive bear activity is and isn't. Regardless if the bear didn't make the kill, acting aggressive as if to protect their "food" (that's an assumption which might be incorrect) in this case would indicate a survival instinct that is overriding the natural fear instinct we've always seen from black bears in the east. Or maybe with reduced hunting, they're going back to as they were, perhaps more similar to those out west. Again, speculation.