Man dies after shark bite in Cape Cod

WELLFLEET, MASS.— A man was bitten by a shark Saturday in the water off a Cape Cod beach and died later at a hospital.

It was the state’s first shark attack fatality in over 80 years.

The man, identified as 26year-old Arthur Medici of Revere, was attacked around noon off Newcomb Hollow Beach, police said.

Joe Booth, a local fisherman and surfer, said he was on shore when he saw the man and his friend boogie boarding.

He said he saw the man aggressively kick something behind him and a flicker of a tail from the water. He realized what was happening when the friend came ashore dragging his injured friend.

“I was that guy on the beach screaming, ‘Shark, shark!” Booth said.

“It was like right out of that movie ‘Jaws.’ This has turned into Amity Island real quick out here.”

Booth said others on the beach attempted to make a tourniquet while others frantically called 911.

Hayley Williamson, a Cape Cod resident and former lifeguard who was on the beach at the time, was in disbelief after the man was rushed into an ambulance.

“We’ve been surfing all morning right here and they were just further down,” she said of the two boogie boarders. “Right spot, wrong time, I guess.”

Life-saving measures were attempted on the beach before the man was taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was pronounced dead, State Police spokesperson David Procopio said.

The beach on the side of the cape facing the Atlantic Ocean has been closed to swimming.

It was the first fatal shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936, and the second shark attack this season.

A 61-year-old New York man was severely injured Aug. 15 after fighting off a shark off Truro, about six kilometres north of Saturday’s attack. He’s currently recovering in a Boston hospital.

“Today is just keeping everyone out of water,” Wellfleet Police Lt. Michael Hurley said.

“There’ll be a determination later about what the town wants to do with the beaches going forward.”

Beachgoers said the Wellfleet beach is popular with surfers, and with sunny skies and warm temperatures Saturday it was busy, even though the summer season was over and lifeguards were no longer on watch.