As we previously covered, a shark turned a 4th of July celebration into a scene from a horror movie. New footage shows the shark in question on that fateful day.
Footage from a helicopter captured the fish swimming near the Texas shore. The aerial footage shows a massive-sized shark, but it doesn't reveal the species of the creature. The shark ended up attacking four people and biting three of them on a South Texas beach. People had gathered at South Padre Island when the shark attacked.
After the shark attacked four people, authorities located the creature and "pushed [it] out to deeper water," Fire Chief Jim Pigg said.
"It's unprecedented here on South Padre Island," he said. The shark ended up severely biting a woman in the leg. A separate video surfaced of the woman injured and collapsing in the surf. Bystanders responded and helped treat her wound. Kyle Jud, who helped the woman, described the horrific scene.
"Beach patrol lifted her up — her calf was just gone, shredded. Horrific," Jud said.
Meanwhile, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department commented on the attack. They said that the attack was out of the norm. "Shark encounters of this nature are not a common occurrence in Texas," the department said. "When bites from sharks do occur, they are usually a case of mistaken identity by sharks looking for food."
Meanwhile, mother Nereyda Bazaldua said that her teenage daughter was bitten by the fish. Her two teenage daughters were swimming in the water when someone shouted about the creature. Her bite fortunately was minor, but she "could see some blood coming down her leg." The animal ended up lingering near shore for another half hour. However, the girls said they never saw the creature until it was right there.
"The shark pushed into her, five to six of his teeth scratched her leg," Bazaldua said. "We never saw the shark 'til he was right there with them. It wasn't choppy water, and the seas were calm. He showed up out of nowhere."
The Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter used deterrence measures to keep the the creature away from shore and to push it further out to sea. "The Texas Department of Public Safety's Aircraft Division responded to South Padre Island to assist local authorities with a shark attack," Lt. Chris Olivarez said.
