Shark Blamed for Attacks Caught, says Police Chief

Amity Police Chief Martin Brody announced early this morning that the shark blamed for two gruesome deaths in the past days has been caught.
According to Brady, the shark was caught be two local fishermen in waters one mile southwest of Amity. The fisherman will receive the $3000 reward advertised by Audrey Kitner, mother of one of the victims.
“They [the fishermen] were trolling with a 25 lb turkey attached to a giant hook and the shark took the bait,” said Brody.
The shark was then inspected by Matt Hooper, a marine biologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic institute, and one of the world’s foremost experts on sharks. Hooper identified the shark as a nurse shark, considered among the most dangerous of all sharks.
Though the shark’s stomach was not checked for human remains, out of respect for the deceased’s families, Brody is confident that this is the shark confident for the attacks.
“Of course it’s the same one. How could it not be?” said Brody, referencing the shark’s unusually large size.
Brody also took comfort in the analysis by Hooper.
“He’s convinced me that this is indeed the shark,” said Brody. “He’s known around the world as a shark expert, so if he says that this is the shark, than this is the shark.”
The shark was blamed for two deaths at area beaches. The first was the July 1 death of 16-year-old Wendy Watson, whose mangled body was found washed up on an Amity beach. She had been last seen alive yesterday at about 11 p.m. the night before as she was leaving a beach party with a male friend, apparently to go skinny-dipping.
The second death believed to be caused by the shark was that of 10-year-old Alex Kitner, who was floating on a rubber raft in the water off Village Beach when witnesses at the beach reported seeing him pulled under the water several times in rapid succession, his airs flailing. He appeared to be trying to fight his attacker, but was ultimately pulled under. The water immediately surrounding where Kitner disappeared took on the color of blood. His body has not been recovered, but the raft floated ashore with what appeared to be a bite taken out of it.
Beaches were reopened on the announcement of the shark’s capture, after having been closed just hours beforehand, just in time for the popular July 4 weekend. Brody said that there will continue to be shark spotters from various federal and local agencies, but they are just a safety precaution. There is also a toll-free hotline to report shark spotting, 1-800-sharksee.
Despite the precautions, Brody does not think there are other sharks in the area.
“This is a very rare shark for these waters,” he said. “We really doubt it.”
In fact, Brody went so far as to encourage residents to go to the beach.
“I urge all our residents to recreate at the beaches in order to encourage the participation of all our visitors in the wonderful water sports of which we all so happily partake throughout the summer,” he wrote in a press release.