Attack on Alexander Kintner

The attack on Alexander Kintner, a six-year-old boy, occurred on Sunday, June 20, on the Scotch Road beach in Amity. It was the second killing by the great white shark, coming five days after the death of Christine Watkins. The boy had been pestering his mother for something to do, complaining of boredom. She finally relented and allowed him to take his rubber raft into the water, warning him not to go too far out and not to swim. He paddled out, and a gentle current carried him slowly offshore. Fifty yards out, the ocean floor dropped precipitously, and in thirty-five feet of water the great fish swam slowly. The fish registered the sharp and jerky impulses emitted by the boy's kicking feet. It rose, locked on the signals, and struck. The boy's last thought was that he had been punched in the stomach. The fish's head drove the raft out of the water, and the jaws smashed together, engulfing head, arms, shoulders, trunk, pelvis, and most of the raft. The boy's legs were severed at the hips and sank, spinning slowly, to the bottom. A man on the beach with a child saw a huge splash and shouted, but by then there was nothing to see. The boy's mother, half asleep, heard the commotion and sat up. She looked out at sea, saw nothing, and then remembered her son. She said, "Alex." The boy's body was never found. The attack was witnessed by a reporter from the New York Times who was on the beach, ensuring immediate national coverage. The Amity Leader, which had suppressed news of the Watkins attack, was forced to run the story. The article quoted coroner Carl Santos confirming that traces of blood found on shreds of rubber left no doubt the boy had died a violent death. The attack occurred less than half an hour before a second killing, that of Morris Cater, a sixty-five-year-old man, in the same waters. The two deaths together made national headlines. The attack on Alexander Kintner had profound consequences. It shattered the town's attempt to suppress the news of the first shark attack. The Amity Leader, which had agreed to withhold the story of Christine Watkins's death, was forced to publish a full account, revealing that the police and town officials had known of the danger and had chosen not to warn the public. The boy's mother, Mrs. Kintner, confronted Chief Brody in his office, slapping him with a newspaper and screaming, "You killed Alex!" The event forced Brody to close the beaches, a decision he had wanted to make after the first attack but had been overruled by Mayor Larry Vaughan and the selectmen. The attack also deepened Brody's guilt, as he realized that the boy's death could have been prevented if he had stood his ground. The event became a turning point in the novel, transforming the shark from a local problem into a national story and forcing the town to confront the consequences of its decision to prioritize the summer economy over public safety.