Vandenberg/Lompoc - Federal and State Fish and Game officials are working to identify the type of shark which attacked and killed a local student off Surf Beach near Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The shark was described as being 14 to 20 feet in length. Experts should be able to detemine by the bite marks on the "boogie board", and the victim, are that of a Great White or another type of shark. So far they have not made any announcement. Meantime, beaches in the area remain closed this weekend.

19-year-old Lucas Ransom, a UCSB student, died Friday morning when the shark bit off his leg while he paddled some 100 feet from shore. The massive wound caused him to bleed to death.

Candace Ransom said she last spoke to her son just before he went surfing. In an interview with the Associated Press she said her son told her he was "going to surf sets of 8- to 10-fee at a beach that was new to him". She then encouraged him not to go in the water.

“I said, ‘Honey, if they’re so pretty why don’t you just sit and watch them. You’re at a place you’ve never been to before.’” He said, ‘Mom, don’t worry, I’ll be fine and I’ll call you when I finish up.’”

An eyewitness at the scene that morning called the KEY newsroom around 9:20 a.m. saying the victim "had his leg bitten off and lost too much blood." That source also told KEY News the victim was pulled to shore by a friend, but efforts to stop the bleeding were unsuccessful.

That friend, Matthew Garcia, was surfing two feet from Ransom, when the shark attacked. "When the shark hit him, he just said, 'Help me, dude!' He knew what was going on," Garcia told The Associated Press. "It was really fast. You just saw a red wave and this water is blue, as blue as it could ever be, and it was just red, the whole wave."

Garcia then reportedly tried to find Ransom in the surf but couldn't. He then went for help but looked back and saw Ransom's red bodyboard pop up. Garcia swam to his friend and did chest compressions as he brought him to shore.

"He was just floating in the water. I flipped him over on his back and underhooked his arms. I was pressing on his chest and doing rescue breathing in the water," Garcia said. "He was just kind of lifeless, just dead weight."

KEY News has obtained photos of the board, which shows a large bite in the side.



Ransom was a junior majoring in Chemical Engineering. He attended Perris High School. At one time he worked at a Murrieta community pool as a lifeguard in 2007, and was honored by the City of Murrieta when he and two other lifeguards saved a young boy’s life.

Officials at Vandenberg have closed Surf, Wall, and Minuteman beaches as a result. The beaches will be closed for a 72 hour period.

A portion of Surf Beach is accessible to the public. Warning signs are also being posted at County beaches in the Jalama and Guadalupe area.

The last known attack at Surf Beach took place back in September of 2008. A surfer reported having his board bitten by a shark. A fatal shark attack occurred at Avila Beach in 2003 killing Nipomo resident Dorborah Franzman. Officials confirm that attack was by a Great White shark.

One resident who spoke to KEY News at the beach said he has never spotted a shark in the waters off Surf Beach, but said others have. He went on to remind ocean lovers "it is the shark's territory, after all."

KEY News also spoke with some UCSB students Friday night who say word of the tragedy spread fast throughout campus and neighboring Isla Vista where some are now rethinking their surfing plans.

Stay with KEY News for the latest information on this shark attack.