Ft. Lauderdale, FLORIDA — The awful incident took place on Jan. 16.
A security guard saw the footage and alerted officials of the attack.
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, one teen held the bird down and blew fumes from an electronic cigarette into its beak and eyes.
He then held the pelican’s beak closed so it couldn’t breathe, repeating the action multiple times until it died.
The main suspect is charged with a violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Barraco says he’ll likely be placed in a juvenile diversion program. The names of the teenagers have not been released.
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast 23 miles north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County.
As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521.
