Shark Tweet 2

BREAKING: A scare quickly turns into reality as killer shark takes third victim, identified as James Park. Beaches closed indefinitely.

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Hysteria ensues at Amity beach thanks to two shark local youth impersonating as sharks.

Shark Is Caught

                The search of the gigantic killer shark that has been terrorizing Amity’s shores for days now has been caught, according to the Amity Police Department. The fishermen who caught the beast will receive a $3,000 reward for their efforts.

                Marine biologist and the world’s foremost expert on sharks Matt Hooper, of the Oceanographic Institute, identified the captured shark as a nurse shark.

                “Nurse sharks are among the most brutal and dangerous of all sharks and have been responsible for hundreds of swimmers’ deaths along the East Coast of the United States,” Amity Police Chief Martin Brody announced in a press release.

                This controversy stirred up after two local youth – Chrissie Watson, 17, and Alex Kitner, 10, both of Amity, Mass. – were found dead after what many residents are blaming on a sole shark.

                These deaths prompted Amity authorities to conduct an emergency town hall meeting to discuss what should be done in light of the resident events. It was at this meeting that Police Chief Brody announced that the beaches would be closed for 24 hours so as to allow extra police presence and Coast Guard officials to arrive prior to the Fourth of July weekend.

                “24 hours, that’s like three weeks,” one townsperson proclaimed after the announcement of the beaches closure.

                With the announcement that the homicidal shark has been captured, Police Chief Brody and other Amity officials have announced that the beaches throughout Amity will reopen immediately. This news comes just in time for Fourth of July weekend, a time when tourists typically flock the island.

                Even though authorities believe the shark problem to be taken care of, Police Chief Brody said that the Amity Police Department is doing all that it can ensure that beachgoers have a safe weekend.

                “Islanders and guests alike should not be alarmed by the presence of shark spotters from the Coast Guard, the Marine Patrol, the Massachusetts State Police, the U.S. Navy, Homeland Security, the FBI and numerous local municipal and county police agencies in the waters off our beaches,” Brody said in a press release. “They are simply a safety precaution that we hope will put our visitors at ease.”

                If islanders or tourist do sight any sharks over the weekend, Police Chief Brody went on, they should report all sightings to authorities at the toll-free shark hotline, 1-800-sharksee.

Shark Attacks Unlikely

After the recent shark attacks in Amity, Mass., residents of the state of New Hampshire have been on a state of panic regarding their safety at local beaches. Well, beachgoers in the Granite State have nothing to fear, at least according New England Aquarium spokesperson Tony LaCasse.

“In over 75 year’s there’s been a single shark fatality [in New England],” LaCasse said.

Shark attacks are extremely rare in New England, since out only one of the species of sharks that are a threat to people, great whites, frequent the New England area, according to LaCasse. Even then, they are rarely seen north of Cape Cod.

However, LaCasse stressed that it is still important for people to play it safe when it comes to shark sightings and just leave the water.

            Other steps to avoiding a shark attack, according to the New Hampshire Journal would be to: avoid the water during darkness or twilight hours when sharks are most active, swim or surf near others, do not enter the water if bleeding and to use extra caution when waters are murky.

Alex Kitner

                A day at the beach went badly after the death of a young child Monday at Amity Village’s Village Beach. Authorities believe that the death of Alex Kintner, 10, at Village Beach was a vicious and unprovoked shark attack.

                According to witnesses at the scene, which included the chief of police, Kitner had been floating in the ocean on a yellow rubber raft off the crowded beach at 2 p.m. As he was in the water, witnesses saw what looked like a large shark grasp onto the boy.

                As Kitner was struggling in the water, the ocean quickly turned a dark color red as other beachgoers fled the scene. Soon after the attack, Kitner’s damaged raft floated ashore with what appeared to be large bite marks.

                Kitner’s body has yet to be recovered.

                Ktiner’s death comes after the death of Chrissie Watson, 17, earlier Monday morning, a death that the Amity Village Police Department believe is possibly linked to the shark attack at Village Beach. Watson was found out by South Beach after going for a swim late Sunday evening.

                Police Deputy Jay Hendricks, who was the first one to spot Watson on the shore after she had been reported missing, had found the victim’s body in a “severely mauled” state.

However, authorities made it clear that the Watson investigation is still ongoing.

No other citizens were injured at the incident at Village Beach, but local authorities have stated the Alex Kitner’s mother, Marion Kitner, was being treated at Amity General Hospital for shock. Marion Kitner was at the beach at the time of her son’s attack. Her condition is said to be stable.

Amity Village Major Larry Vaughn, the chief of police and the Amith Board of Selectmen have announced that a special meeting will be held at the Town Hall at 6 p.m. Monday night. At the meeting Police Chief Martin Brody is scheduled to discuss the closing of the beaches on July 4.

Also on the agenda for the special town hall meeting, the Kitner family will be announcing a $3,000 reward for the capture of the perpetrators who killed her son.

Chrissie Watson

                The Amity Village Police Department is investigating the tragic death of a teenage girl after finding her body on one of the local beaches early Monday morning.

                Amity Police Deputy Jay Hendricks was said to have found the body of Amity High School senior Chrissie Watson, 17, after a brief search. According to a press release from Amity Police Chief Martin Brody, Watson had been severely mauled by an attacked of an unknown origin. Currently, police have no suspects.

                “We have no suspects whatsoever,” Chief Brody said. “We’re not looking at any suspects at this point.”

                Watson’s body has been transported to the coroner’s office for an autopsy. Charges have yet to be filed on the case, as police continue their investigation on the incident.

                According to Police Chief Brody, authorities were informed by Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III, a sophomore at Trinity College and former resident of the island, at around 6 a.m. that Watson had gone missing.

                Witnesses told authorities that Watson was last seen leaving a beach party Sunday night at around 11 p.m. with a young man, who was later identified as Hoggenbottam. According to those at the party, both Hoggenbottam and Watson had been drinking heavily during the evening. Police also have reason to believe that illicit drugs may have been used as well.

According to Hoggenbottam, Watson decided that the duo should go swimming. Hoggenbottam told police that the two were at a remote section of South Beach near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy. When Watson never returned from the water, Hoggenbottam said, he made sure to notify the authorities.

Brody made it clear that the police department does not believe this incident was a shark attack, but Brody also said that that scenario has not been ruled out.

“There hasn’t been a shark attack in years and years and years, if ever” Brody said. “There is no evidence whatsoever that this is a shark attack. It can’t be completely ruled out, but there’s no particular reason to think it’s a shark attack.”

Brody went on to add that the all residents and visitors of Amity Village should rest assured that they are in no danger, and that beaches will remain open for swimming pending the outcome of the investigation.