- Jahmari Reid’s body was reportedly found with his head and left arm bitten off
A fisherman who saw the decapitated body of a teenager in a horror shark attack off the coast of Jamaica tried to shoot the animal, it has emerged.
Jahmari Reid’s body was reportedly found with his head missing and his left arm bitten off.
His heartbroken father, Michael Reid, was on the beach when divers brought his son’s remains back to land.
Now, fisherman Christopher Reynolds, who was with Michael on the beach, has claimed to have seen the massive tiger shark in the water near to where Jahmari’s body was found, the Jamaica Observer reports.
And he even revealed how ‘all of the fisherman went out there and, while they were diving to take him up… they shot at him but they didn’t get him’.
Jahmari Reid, 16, had gone spearfishing near the popular tourist town of Montego Bay
The high school student is pictured with his father, taxi driver Michael Reid
The 16-year-old had gone spearfishing near the popular tourist town of Montego Bay on Monday, according to local police.
The high school student vanished after going out into the water by himself and his mauled body was recovered on Tuesday.
‘I can’t believe that he went to sea by himself yesterday [Monday] and that was the outcome. Sad to know. I feel so bad,’ he told Jamaican media.
The taxi driver said he had often tried to discourage his son from his spearfishing hobby, and that they often argued about him going out.
Pictures from the scene showed scores of horrified locals gathering at the beach in the town of Falmouth on the island’s northern coast.
Fisherman Christopher Reynolds added that they hoped to find and kill the shark and recover the boy’s missing severed head from inside it.
The head of a local fisherman’s association said that this was the first time in recent history that someone had been killed by a shark in local waters.
Locals in the town of Falmouth gathered on the beach as the body was recovered
The attack happened off the beach in the north coast town of Falmouth
Fritz Christie suggested that the shark might have followed a cruise ship into Falmouth bay, and warned spearfishers to exercise extreme caution when large vessels come in.
‘What we have to do is make certain when the ships come to be careful of the diving. The shark eat off the man head, eat off one of his hand. It’s crazy, man,’ Christie said.
Falmouth police are reported to be investigating the tragedy.
Shark attacks are extremely rare in Jamaica, with only three unprovoked attacks reported since 1749, according to the the International Shark Attack File.
The most common shark in Jamaica is a nurse shark, which is docile and usually stays near the seabed.
Caribbean reef sharks, tiger sharks, hammerheads, and bull sharks have also been seen in Jamaican waters.