AMITY — Chaos ensued on Village beach today after two children, playing a hoax, swam through the waters with a large shark fin amid the heightened fear of Amity’s beaches.
The atmosphere on the beach had already been tense this morning following the tragic deaths of Alex Ferguson, 10, and Wendy Watson, 16. Shark attacks are the suspected cause of both fatalities.
Chief of Police Martin P. Brody had closed all beaches for 24 hours earlier this week to search the waters for any sharks. Yesterday, a 16-foot nurse shark, suspected of the attacks, was killed one mile south-southwest of Amity.
“I am delighted to report that the giant killer shark that has been blamed for two deaths this week was caught and killed,” said Brody in a press release. “We believe that the danger of further shark attacks has passed.”
Brody assured that while the waters were safe, shark spotters, the Coast Guard and local police were patrolling the ocean to ensure that there would not be another attack.
Meanwhile, sunbathers were initially deterred to go into the water today. Mayor Bob Farley looked distraught and was seen pleading with an Amity citizen to go swimming with his family.
Once the one Amity resident and his family went into the water, other citizens seemed confident to follow suit.
However, the restored confidence was shattered when a large dorsal fin was seen swimming around people in the water. After several people noticed the apparent shark fin, citizens scrambled to escape the seemingly shark infested waters.
Amity has been skeptical of swimming after Watson’s mangled body was washed ashore and Ferguson was attacked on his raft on a busy day at the beach.
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