SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas – The Fourth of July celebrations on South Padre Island turned into chaos as a shark attacked multiple beachgoers Thursday.
Two people were bitten, a third person was grazed and a fourth man was injured fending off a shark, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
South Padre Island police were first called to the beach around 11 a.m. for a severe shark bite to a man’s leg.
State park and wildlife officials said two victims were taken to the hospital. One of the victims received treatment in Brownsville, while the other was airlifted to an unknown location for further treatment.
Videos posted on social media showed a crowd of people looking in the water as the shark swarmed the area.
All of the attacks were believed to have been associated with the same shark, according to Texas Game Warden Captain Chris Dowdy.
Watch his interview with KRGV below.
Rayner Cardenas told KRGV his son-in-law was pulled underwater by the shark.
“Started swimming towards him, and he jumped out of the water and started saying, ‘Shark! Shark!’ And that’s when adrenaline kicked in, and I went right after him.”
Cardenas saved his son-in-law by carrying him out of the water onto shore.
Brian McDaniel, who witnessed the aftermath, told KRGV, “How is this actually happening right now? It was very surreal.”
In the video from KRGV below, Cardenas and McDaniel described what they saw.
Dowdy said the shark escaped to open waters, and there were no plans to contain it.
The shark can be seen below in an aerial video provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety.