Key takeaways:
- Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene shortly after 2 p.m. ET and released partial body camera video footage of the incident on Wednesday.
- Sheriff Larry Ashley said that rip currents were not present in the area and therefore did not play a role in the fatal incident.
- Sheriff Ashley urged beachgoers to take caution and to swim on an actively guarded beach whenever possible.
On Tuesday afternoon, tragedy struck the Gulf Coast beach near Gulf Shore Drive in Destin, Florida, when former NFL player Ryan Mallett died in an apparent drowning incident. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene shortly after 2 p.m. ET, and released partial body camera video footage of the incident on Wednesday.
In response to public speculation about the cause of the incident, Sheriff Larry Ashley said that rip currents, which have been linked to at least seven deaths at nearby Panama City Beach over the course of nine days this month, were not present in the area and therefore did not play a role in the fatal incident.
However, NBC meteorologist Kathryn Prociv warned that the combination of southwest waves and the strengthening sea breeze will increase wave heights and heighten the rip current risk, and that the outgoing tide from midday through early afternoon today will also add to the rip current risk. She also noted that not every beach is patrolled by a lifeguard and the high heat has been pushing a lot of people into the water.
Sheriff Ashley urged beachgoers to take caution and to swim on an actively guarded beach whenever possible. “Swimming on an actively guarded beach is always the safest option,” he said.
Be First to Comment