A man fishing in a Florida pond was killed Friday by an alligator measuring nearly 12 feet long in a rare animal attack, according to authorities and media reports.
Steve Hamilton, 71, was on the shoreline in the Winter Garden community when the animal pulled him into the water, Florida news outlet WOFL reported, citing local police and the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Emergency crews responded to the park where Hamilton was fishing around 5:20 p.m. Friday after receiving a 911 call and attempted to save him — but had difficulty doing so because of alligators nearby, the outlet reported.
Hamilton’s body was found in the water several hours later.
Captain Michael Mason of the Winter Garden Police Department told media that the alligator was killed after the fatal attack on Hamilton.
Authorities were not alerted to the alligator sighting Friday at the pond, which is connected to Lake Apopka, Mason said.
The body of water has “tons of alligators. It’s not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town,” Mason said.
The leader encouraged people to “be aware of their surroundings”.
The alligator “looks docile. It looks like your Florida icon, but it can be dangerous,” Mason said.
Alligator attacks are statistically rare. Still, at least 34 people have been killed by these fish in Florida since 1948, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which compiles reports on encounters with the alligators, estimated at 1.3 million.
Hamilton’s death came less than four months after a woman named Brittany Clark was attacked and killed by a 13-foot alligator while swimming with her boyfriend in the Econlockhatchee River in Seminole County, Florida.
Autopsy results released in July showed Clark, 31, was fighting for his life before dying from injuries inflicted on him by the alligator, which was pulled from the river and euthanized.
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