Press Release

City of Fernandina Beach Police Department
Submitted by James T. Hurley / Chief of Police

21. September 2015

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Twelve year old boy suffers shark bite

The Fernandina Beach Police and Fire-Rescue Departments responded yesterday afternoon to Beach Access #9 at Jasmine Street after a twelve year old Georgia boy suffered “significant” injuries to his right leg near the knee, the result of a shark bite.

The incident occurred about 12:30 p.m. while the victim was wading in waist deep water. The boy reported feeling the bite near his knee and then saw the shark and began punching it as it moved closer and bit him a second time. The boy’s parents reported that the victim was walking toward them in two or three feet of water when they heard him yelling for help, while screaming “shark.”

The boy’s father, identified as Joshua Bitner of Sparks, GA said he saw a 4 foot shark with a black tip on its dorsal fin thrashing in the water around his son.

The boy was pulled to safety from the water by beach goers.

Paramedics treated the boy at the scene for open lacerations and called the injuries significant. The boy was transported to UF Health in Jacksonville for further treatment.

Source: City of Fernandina Beach