VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California — A body boarder bled to death Friday at a beach northwest of Los Angeles after a shark mauled his leg, authorities said, prompting officials to close three beaches through the weekend.
Lucas Ransom, 19, was boogie-boarding in the surf line about 100 yards off of Surf Beach with a friend when a shark suddenly pulled him under the water shortly before 9 a.m., according to a statement from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department.
Ransom's friend and others at the beach pulled him from the water, but the University of California, Santa Barbara, student had a severe wound to his left leg and died a short time later, the statement said. The shark's chomp took out a 1-foot (30-centimeter) portion of the board's side.
