Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WEBVTT THE BEACH WAS PACKED ON THIS AFTERNOON WHEN THE SHARK ATTACKED. AS A CROWD OF PEOPLE CARRIED THE SHARK ATTACK VICTIM OFF NEWCOMB HOLLOW BEACH IN WELLFLEET HE WAS STILL ALIVE BUT BLEEDING BADLY FROM ONE OF HIS LEGS WHERE HE HAD BEEN BITTEN. >> I HAVE A REPORT OF AN UNKNOWN SHARK BITE. >> I NEVER WANTED TO BE THAT GUY SCREAMING SHARK AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS. >> JOE BOOTH SAYS HE WAS ON THE BEACH LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO GO SURFING WHEN HE NOTICED A MAN JUST OFF SHORE ON A BOOGIE BOARD KICKING FURIOUSLY. >> FOR SOMETHING TO MAKE THAT KIND OF COMMOTION IN THE WATER, THEY ARE BIG. >> BOOTH SAYS ANOTHER MAN IN THE WATER PULLED THE VICTIM TO SHORE. AS THE MAN WAS CARRIED TO A WAITING AMBULANCE OFF-DUTY LIFEGUARDS RUSHED IN TO PROVIDE FIRST AID. >> AS THEY ARE AMAZING. THEY DID CPR. THEY PUT ON PROFESSIONAL TOURNIQUETS. >> VIDEO FROM SKY 5 SHOT SHORTLY AFTER THE ATTACK SHOWED TWO LARGE SHARKS SWIMMING IN THE AREA. THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL SEALS NEARBY, A FAVORITE PREY OF SHARKS. OFFICIALS ORDERED NEWCOMB HOLLOW BEACH CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. AFTER A SUMMER FULL OF SHARK SIGHTINGS ON CAPE COLD AND ONE -- COD AND ONE PREVIOUS NON-FATAL ATTACK IT’S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO DOWNPLAY THE DANGER. >> JUST WAVE IT OFF. NOW IT IS A STARTLING REALITY WE ARE FACING HERE. >> THE AMBULANCE TOOK THE MAN TO CAPE COD HOSPITAL IN HYANNIS WHERE HE DIED FROM HIS INJUR

Advertisement Authorities ID 26-year-old Mass. man killed in Cape Cod shark attack Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A 26-year-old man from Revere died after being attacked by a shark in the waters off Cape Cod on Saturday afternoon, Massachusetts State Police said. The man succumbed to his injuries following the attack in the waters about 300 yards south of Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet just after noon Saturday.Authorities identified the victim as Arthur Medici of Revere. Friends say Medici was born and raised in Brazil and came to the United States two years ago to go to college. They describe the 26-year-old as sweet and humble. His friends say Medici loved to surf and was at the beach with his girlfriend's brother Saturday afternoon when the shark attack happened.First responders performed CPR on Medici on the beach after the bite before he was transported to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was pronounced dead. State police and the Cape Cod District Attorney's office are handling the investigation.The Truro Police Department said all ocean side beaches in Truro will be closed to swimming until further notice."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."This was the second shark attack on Cape Cod this summer and the first fatal shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936.Video from the scene immediately after the attack showed dozens of people working to help Medici, carrying him from the beach to the parking lot where an ambulance was waiting. Sky 5 spotted a number of sharks in the water off the beach about two hours after the attack was first reported. Seals were also spotted swimming very close to shore. 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.Joe Booth, a local fisherman and surfer, said he was on shore and saw Medici and his friend boogie boarding when the attack happened.He said he saw Medici aggressively kick something behind him and a flicker of a tail from the water. Booth 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 Medici 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. "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time." A Cape Cod politician said officials who did not more aggressive action against sharks bore some responsibility for the fatal attack. Barnstable County Commissioner Ron Beaty said he had warned something like this could happen."It is my personal belief that the responsibility for this horrible shark attack rests squarely upon the shoulders of the aforementioned officials for their utter lack of attention and inaction regarding the growing shark problem on Cape Cod of the last few years," he said.The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which has been conducting research into the sharks in our area for years, offered its "sincere condolences to the family of the victim, and all who witnessed or were affected by tragic incident.""We remain committed to facilitating the study of shark behavior in an effort to provide information to the public and to safety officials who manage our beaches," the conservancy said. Newcomb Hollow Beach is approximately 4 1/2 miles south of Long Nook Beach, where a 61-year-old neurologist from Scarsdale, New York, was attacked by a shark on Aug. 15.William Lytton said he'd been swimming in about "8 to 10 feet" of water off Truro, Massachusetts, when he felt an incredible pain shoot through his left leg and quickly realized he was being attacked by a shark.According to Shark Attack Data, there have been only three other fatal shark attacks in Massachusetts history.In 1936, a swimmer was killed by a shark off Buzzards Bay in an unprovoked attack. The other two fatal attacks were in 1830 and 1897.