Ohio tourist bitten by shark at Florida beach while playing football in knee-deep water
An Ohio tourist was bitten at a Florida beach while playing football in knee-deep water on the Fourth of July, officials said.
Authorities said that the 21-year-old from Ohio was playing football in knee-deep water at New Smyrna Beach when the shark bit him on his right foot.
Police said that the attack happened at 4 p.m. on Thursday – the Fourth of July.
The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The Fourth of July shark attack came after four people were injured at a beach in Texas the same day.
The South Padre Island Police Department and the US Coast Guard Atlantic Area confirmed to Fox News Digital that four people were injured during the encounter with the ocean predator on South Padre Island in the state’s southern coast.
Police said that the attacks happened at approximately 11 a.m. local time along Beach Access 14, near Wanna Wanna Beach Bar and Grill.
The shark encounter with the 21-year-old comes after Florida was recently named the shark capital of the world.
The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File found the most unprovoked shark attacks in the world in the Sunshine State, specifically in Volusia County, where there have been 351 attacks since 1882.
Fox News Digital’s Ashlyn Messier contributed to this report.
