Beach community in shock after shark kills boy, 10

The Virginia Beach community was today in a state of shock after a shark killed a 10-year-old boy in the first fatal shark attack in the United States this year.

Beachgoers were staying ashore and authorities patrolled waters following the tragedy on Saturday, the first in the area in 30 years.

‘‘I’d rather give the shark a little time to get further down the coast,’’ said Debbie Morris, 39, of Virginia Beach, who refused to allow her 11-year-old daughter into the water.

David Peltier, of Richmond, Virginia, suffered a 17-inch gash to his left leg and lost a huge amount of blood from a severed artery. He died yesterday in a Norfolk hospital.

David was bitten while surfing with his father and two brothers in about four feet of water about 150 feet from shore off Sandbridge Beach, said Ed Brazle, division chief for the city’s Emergency Medical Services.

David’s father, Richard Peltier, spotted the shark and shouted to his three sons who were in the water.

Mr Peltier, a welder, hauled David on to his surfboard as the two older boys ran to shore, witnesses said.

The shark brushed Mr Peltier’s leg then lunged at David, who was freed from its jaws after his father hit the shark on its head.

Mr Peltier then paddled to shore with his son, where witnesses and lifeguards administered first aid to the boy. Mr Peltier was treated for a hand injury.

Mr Peltier’s brother, James, said he was not surprised by Richard’s actions.

‘‘He’s very strong,’’ he said. ‘‘He always has his head about him in emergencies.’’

The family refused interview requests and asked the hospital not to release details about David’s injury or treatment.

Linda Garren, whose daughter, Dana, was one of David Peltier’s classmates, said she was stunned.

‘‘I’m really sad for the family,’’ Garren said. ‘‘I can’t even imagine how they might be feeling right now. My prayers and my thoughts go out to them because it could’ve been my daughter.’’

Sandbridge Beach is a remote coastal community of elevated holiday homes within the city of Virginia Beach. The beach was closed after the attack but Virginia Beach officials reopened it on Sunday morning.

Authorities did not know what kind of shark attacked the boy, but said it was probably a sandbar shark, which are about 5ft long and are not normally aggressive.

Several hundred people were at the southern end of the Sandbridge shore yesterday afternoon, but only a few were surfing and swimming near where David was attacked.

‘‘Now that I know, I wouldn’t get back in the water,’’ said James Whitaker, 15, of Durham, North Carolina, who had been swimming with his boogie board.

There have been 49 shark attacks all over the world this year, with one fatal one in Brazil, said George Burgess of the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville, Florida. Twenty-eight attacks have been in Florida waters.