Newly released bodycam video captures the chaotic moments after four teenagers on a school trip began struggling in the ocean at an unguarded beach in Wildwood, NJ.
“How many do I need? There’s just one missing,” an officer can be heard saying in the video as rescuers worked to account for everyone in the water.
According to authorities, the incident happened on the afternoon of June 1. A staff member from the school group told police the teens had ventured farther into the ocean before getting into trouble.
“The kids said he kept saying no, I’m done. We’re trying to go deeper and then we were screaming stay, like get back. What are you guys doing?” the staff member said in bodycam footage.
As panic unfolded on the beach, a Wildwood police officer who was passing by jumped into action. Authorities said the officer removed his uniform and entered the water, ultimately rescuing three of the boys.
“His actions are heroic,” Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said. “At least three kids still have their lives that would not have had their lives, possibly, if that officer wasn’t there.”
Bodycam footage also captured survivors describing the terrifying ordeal.
“We still swimming and then the waves are pulling us and then he started dragging on my leg,” one teen said.
“He kept telling help him and I tried but he was … in the water,” another teen said.
The search for 14-year-old Davoris Carter III continued for days after he disappeared in the water. The eighth grader’s body was recovered Tuesday in Cape May.
The group involved in the trip included six students and six staff members from Delta School in Philadelphia.
“Those rip currents, that day, that water was moving south hard,” Troiano said.
The Wildwood tragedy is one of several fatal incidents at unguarded beaches along the Jersey Shore this season. In less than a month, three other people died after swimming at unguarded beaches in Ocean City, Seaside Park and Ship Bottom.
Judith Leblein Josephs of the New Jersey Swim Safety Alliance said the early season has been particularly deadly.
“It’s heartbreaking because we’re doing everything we can to educate the public to never swim in an unguarded beach of any kind,” Josephs said.
The CEO of Delta School told NBC10 that the staff members who were in Wildwood that day have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcomes of investigations by multiple agencies.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication.