“The white male had his left arm around the shark's head and was punching it repeatedly in the stomach,” Robert Petty wrote in his sworn statement to FWC.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A Georgia man has been charged with a misdemeanor after witnesses reported seeing him punching a great hammerhead shark. The shark later was found dead.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers in October responded to a call of a man, later identified as Granger Ray Wooten, 21, of Lafayette, Georgia, bringing ashore a large hammerhead shark near the pier in St. Andrews State Park. The officers reported Wooten admitted to punching the shark in its gills, but told them the punches were an attempt to revive the animal.

Officers found the shark floating dead under a pier, and Wooten was charged with landing a great hammerhead shark, a misdemeanor.

The officers were patrolling St. Andrew State Park about 9 p.m. on Oct. 24 when they received a call from a witness saying two men had landed an 8- or 9-foot hammerhead shark and brought it ashore, FWC reported.

“The white male had his left arm around the shark’s head and was punching it repeatedly in the stomach,” Robert Petty wrote in his sworn statement to FWC.

Petty said the men pulled the shark farther on shore before sitting a small child on it for a photo opportunity, FWC reported.

“The two white males then pulled the shark back into the water and tried to revive it, apparently to no avail,” Petty wrote.

When the officers arrived, the shark was floating motionless under the pier. Wooten allegedly approached the officers and “said something to the effect of, ‘She’s just lying in the current,’ ” officers quoted him as saying.

As officers checked for his fishing license, Wooten allegedly admitted catching the shark but initially denied anybody had punched it.

“Mr. Wooten then changed his story and attempted to explain to me that he was punching the shark around the stomach area to get the air out of its lungs,” officers wrote. “Then he said, ‘It’s kinda like doing CPR on a shark.’ I explained to Mr. Wooten that if he wanted to revive the shark all he had to do was run water through the shark’s gills.”

Officers gathered pictures of the lifeless shark, and Wooten was charged with taking a prohibited species. Charges do not appear to have been filed against the other man, whose name was not released.

The case has been turned over to the State Attorney’s Office for review as Wooten awaits his Dec. 7 arraignment, court records indicated. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.