Monday, December 2, 2013

Second Lead for Meeting Story



A shark has been caught and killed by fishermen this morning off Amity Island, just two days after a local girl was found mauled by a shark and a boy was attacked by a shark off Village Beach. 

Amity Police Chief Martin Brody said today that the shark, which was killed one mile south-southwest of Amity, is the one that claimed the lives of Chrissie Watson, 17, and Alex Kintner, 10, two days ago. 

“Of course all the beaches throughout our beautiful island will reopen immediately,” Chief Brody said.  “Swim and have fun!” 

Chief Brody also mentioned that after the shark was brought ashore it was identified to be a nurse shark by Matt Hooper, a marine biologist from the Woods Hole, Mass., Oceanographic Institute.  Nurse sharks are “among the most brutal and dangerous of all sharks,” Chief Brody said.

Although Chief Brody assured residents they could go back in the water, he mentioned that there would still be shark spotters in the area.

Amity Beaches Closed in Light of Shark Attacks



Amity Police are taking special precautions, including closing Amity’s beaches, in order to try to prevent further shark attacks after a local girl was found mauled by a shark yesterday morning and a boy was attacked by a shark yesterday afternoon. 

At last night’s Amity Board of Selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall at 6 p.m., Police Chief Martin Brody told citizens in attendance that, in light of the deaths of Chrissie Watson, 17, and Alex Kintner, 10, whose body still has not been found, the police were going to “put on an extra number of summer deputies” and employ “shark spotters.”  

The meeting commenced with a tizzy of voices yelling out over each other, and Mayor Larry Vaughn could hardly get people to quiet down in order to ask if there were “any special questions.”  

One citizen of Amity asked Brody if the police was going to close the beaches, to which Chief Brody responded, “We are.”

This was met with an uproar as a number of Amity citizens in the audience yelled out at Brody in anger.  Multiple people who showed up at the meeting were owners of businesses that rely on the numerous amount of tourists that come to Amity to vacation on the beaches. 

Mayor Vaughn reassured citizens that the beaches would only be closed for 24 hours, even though Chief Brody had not put a time limit on his own statement. 

One fisherman inquired into the $3,000 reward advertised by the Kintner family for whoever could capture and kill the shark, to which Mayor Vaughn responded that anyone with questions of that nature should get in touch with the Kintner family.  Marion Kintner, who was at Village Beach when her son was attacked, is currently being treated for shock at Amity General Hospital.

In the midst of the commotion, a fisherman named Quint who was sitting at the back of Town Hall suddenly ran his nails down a chalk board to get the room’s attention.  Quint said he could catch the shark, but he would only do so for $10,000.

Mayor Vaughn nodded his head and said, “We’ll take it under advisement.” 

Quint then left the room, and the Mayor declared that the meeting was over.