 Police chief Martin Brody orders Amity's beaches closed, but mayor Larry Vaughan and the town's selectmen overrule him out of fear for damage to summer tourism, the town's main industry.With the connivance of Harry Meadows, the editor of the local newspaper, they hush up the attack.A few days later, the shark kills a young boy named Alex Kintner and Morris Cater, an elderly man not far from shore.