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In Ocean City incident, no one disputes that a man killed a seagull

THIS IS WHAT it sounds like on social media when a seagull dies at the hands of a shoobie in the quiet little candyland of Ocean City.

THIS IS WHAT it sounds like on social media when a seagull dies at the hands of a shoobie in the quiet little candyland of Ocean City.

A photo of the unidentified gull-killer circulated on social media last week, shortly after the man smacked the bird out of the air on the 39th Street beach Friday, allegedly snapped its neck and tossed it into a trash can.

Waves of rage rolled in. On Instagram, the middle-age, bearded man was called nasty names. There was even a rumor that he was from West Virginia.

Some people claimed that the cops did nothing about it. Some called for beach justice, Ocean City style.

"Some shoobie needs to be shown some hospitality for killing a seagull for no reason [on] 39th Street Beach," one poster said.

Police in Ocean City heard a different story, one that paints the balding beachgoer as a daddy saving his little daughter as a gull "attacked" her while she ate.

"Report indicates that the bird was pecking at the girl's head and face area," Capt. Steven K. Ang told the Daily News in an email Wednesday.

Ang said that the father struck the gull with a towel around 1:55 p.m. Friday, injuring its wing, and that it fell into the ocean and flopped around helplessly. The father, according to Ang, claimed he didn't want the children to see the bird drown, so he scooped it up and placed it in a trash can.

There was no mention of breaking its neck, and Ang said no witnesses came forward on the beach.

"The father claims the bird died before he placed it in the trash receptacle," Ang wrote.

Ang didn't know what type of gull it was, but said that it was a migratory animal and that the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife was taking over the investigation.

According to a post on Facebook, the killer's "scumbag friend" also swung an umbrella at some gulls, then threatened two teenage boys who tried to stick up for them.

Back in 2008, Cory Kendelski, 18, pleaded guilty to beating a seagull with a wiffle-ball bat in Manasquan, Monmouth County. That man also claimed the gull was coming for his food, which seagulls often do. Police said he lured the gull in for a beating.

On Instagram, everyone agreed that the gulls can be annoying. They laugh in your face all day, flock around your blanket when you tear into a bag of gluten-free sweet-potato chips too eagerly, and drop bombs on your boat shoes and salmon-colored shorts.

Only a tourist would kill one, though.

On Twitter: @JasonNark